Set your PC to automatically shut down when idle
What you need: Windows 7, 8.1 or 10 Time required: 30 minutes
If you leave your PC running so it can carry out a lengthy task (such as download a large file or encode a video), you might return to it a few hours later to find Windows has put your computer to sleep before the task was completed. In this Workshop, we explain how to use a tool called Shutter to control precisely when your PC goes to sleep or shuts down. You can also use Shutter to carry out a range of other useful tasks, such as muting your speakers when your screen turns off or closing specific programs when your battery is low.
STEP 1 First, install Shutter by going to www.snipca. com/35096, clicking the blue Installer button 1 then running the file that downloads. Shutter works by letting you set a series of events and actions. When a series of events has been triggered, Shutter will then carry out the action you’ve set. The free version lets you set a maximum of five events and five actions. This is enough for our Workshop, but if you later find you want to add more than five you’ll need to buy the premium version (£14 from www.snipca.com/35097).
STEP 2 To start, we need to use the Event section (top half of the Shutter window) to set when our PC should go to sleep or shut down. Click Add 1 , then select CPU Usage 2 from the list on the left. We want the event to trigger when our processor drops below 5 per cent usage, meaning it’s essentially idle. To do this, set ‘Trigger when usage’ to Below 3 , then change ‘Target usage’ to 5 per cent 4 . We only want the event to trigger if our processor remains idle for a prolonged period of time, so set ‘For the duration of’ to 600 seconds 5 . Click Add when you’ve finished.
STEP 3 We also want to make sure our computer doesn't shut down when we’re downloading something. Click Add again, then select Network Usage 1 in the window that appears. In the Network Interface box, select your network adapter. If you’re not sure which adapter to use, select the one that has an IP address before it (192.168.1.102 in our example 2 ). Set ‘Usage goes below’ to 5KB/S 3 and set the duration to 600 seconds 4 . We don’t want brief uses of our Wi-fi (such as a program checking for updates) to stop this event from triggering, so we’ll also tick the ‘Use an average measurement’ option 5 . Click Add.
STEP 4 By default, the actions you’re about to set will only run if all events are triggered simultaneously. In our example, this means our processor must have been running under 5 per cent and our network activity below 5KB/S during the same 600-second period. If you want to change this, click the box at the top right 1 . Selecting AND means the two events still need to be triggered, but not necessarily at the same time. Alternatively, if you want your actions to run if just one of your events is triggered, change this box to OR. Finally, setting it to 1BY1 means the events need to be triggered in order, starting with the one at the top of the list.
STEP 5 We can now add the actions that should take place if all our events are triggered. Click Add in the bottom section 1 , then select Shutdown 2 or Sleep 3 from the list on the left, depending on what you want your computer to do. If you select Shutdown, you can tick the ‘Force applications to close…’ option 4 to prevent stubborn programs from stopping the shutdown, but bear in mind this means you’ll lose any unsaved work, such as Word documents. Click Add when you’ve finished.
STEP 6 If you want the option to cancel the shutdown or sleep command, you can set a warning message to appear. Click Add to create another action, then select Message 1 . Choose how long you want the message to be displayed for (we’ve opted for 30 seconds 2 ), then type what you want to be displayed 3 . Click Add when you’ve finished. To make sure the message appears before the sleep or shutdown command is run, select the Message option, then use the up arrow 4 to move it to the top of the list.
STEP 7 With our Shutter routine created, it’s time to put it to the test. Click Start (this changes to a Stop button when you click it, as shown 1 ). You’ll now see the Status column update for each of the events, showing whether they’re outside the limit you’ve set and for how long 2 . Once both our events have been triggered, the warning message we created in Step 6 will appear, along with options to cancel or reset the routine. If no buttons are pressed for 30 seconds, your PC will either shut down or go to sleep, depending on what you selected in Step 5. If you want Shutter - and the routine you’ve created - to run each time you load Windows, click Settings 3 , then tick ‘Autorun at Windows startup/logon (all users)’ 4 .