9th January 2002

There's a feature on most newer television sets called a sleep timer. With it, you can schedule automatic power termination without further intervention - perfect for temporary insomniacs. Windows XP comes with a tool that'll essentially do the same thing. SHUTDOWN.EXE should be launched from a "CMD" prompt or used in conjunction with the proper switches: -l logs off the current user. -s shuts down the local computer. -r reboots after shutdown. -a aborts a scheduled shutdown. -f forces running applications to close (dangerous). -m [\\ComputerName] specifies the computer that you want to shut down. -t [xx] sets the timer for shutdown in [xx] seconds (20 by default). There's no easier way of making sure your spouse comes to bed on time. "The strangest thing keeps happening, honey... my computer keeps shutting down every day at the exact same time." "That's nice, dear. Quit hogging the covers." I'm onto your little plan, Gretchen.