Typically I have been keeping the primary computer in my home on 24/7 so that
when using other pc's in the house we could access the files through the home
network. However, to save the hard disk, it would be ideal to have the pc
shutdown or hibernate overnight and automatically restart in the morning.
Can I do this? How?

For Automatic ShutDown there is an option Contol Panel under Power Options.
System Standby and System Hibernates. Suppose, you leave the computer at
10:PM and want to Hibernate it at 1PM then set the "System Hibernates" time
to 3 Hours.

For Automatic Wakeup, you should check your CMOS options. You can locate
them under your CMOS's Power Management options. In some BIOS it is called
Resume on Alarm or PowerUp by Alarm. Set the time accordingly.

Take a look at the following picture to make a guess.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/E...wer_wakeup.jpg

Otherwise, there are many third party utilities which can be used to
Automatic ShutDown your computer but maybe none of them able to Turn On your
PC back. Because they will not work when your computer will turned off. So my
advise is to use the inbuilt features.

Hope this help, let us know!

--
* Tip of The Day *
Extending Taskbar in 2 Rows can be useful, if you want to see Date along
with Time.


"kk_md" wrote:

> Typically I have been keeping the primary computer in my home on 24/7 so that
> when using other pc's in the house we could access the files through the home
> network. However, to save the hard disk, it would be ideal to have the pc
> shutdown or hibernate overnight and automatically restart in the morning.
> Can I do this? How?

kk_md wrote:

> Typically I have been keeping the primary computer in my home on 24/7
> so that when using other pc's in the house we could access the files
> through the home network. However, to save the hard disk, it would
> be ideal to have the pc shutdown or hibernate overnight and
> automatically restart in the morning. Can I do this? How?



You can shutdown or hibernate at a scheduled time, but Windows has no way to
start at a scheduled time. It can't do that because it won't be running when
you want it to start.

It's *possible* that your computer's BIOS may have such a function.

By the way, I doubt very much that doing what you want would have any
significant effect on the life of the hard drive. Even if you run it 24/7,
it's more likely that the drive will eventually be replaced because it's too
small and too slow than that it's failed.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup