A Yes, but it requires some additional software. You'll need a program that shuts down Windows and a scheduler to launch that program at a designated time.

You can set up a combination of the two programs to shut down Windows at any time. It's up to your computer whether the procedure will also turn off the PC.

About the software: You may already own a launching scheduler without knowing it. Both Microsoft Plus and Windows 98 come with one ù the same one, in fact. To access this scheduler, double-click the Task Scheduler icon in the system tray.

Another popular program that comes with its own scheduler is Norton AntiVirus. The utility is called Norton Program Scheduler; if you have it installed, double-click its icon (in the system tray) to schedule an event.

If you don't have such a utility, you can try out a shareware scheduler for free and register it for pocket change. I recommend TimerOn by Computerama ù not because it's a fantastic piece of software, but because it works and costs only $US20. Many free programs for shutting down Windows are available. I recommend Shutdown.exe from Bernhard Rosenkraenzer's w95tool1.zip collection. You will find both programs on this month's CD.

Since I don't know which scheduler you're using, I can't give you specific keystroke and mouse-click instructions. But here are some general guidelines:

1. Make sure your scheduler loads when you start Windows. If it doesn't put a Shortcut into the StartUp folder, add one.

2. Create a new event in your scheduler with the following characteristics:

• Set up the event to launch your shutdown program.
• Set it to happen once a day, every day.
• Schedule the event for a time that's safely past your workday.
• Save the event and let it do its work.

Don't leave an application running with an unsaved file in it at the end of the day (you shouldn't do this anyway). If you do, the computer will remain on, waiting for you to decide whether to save the file.