Method to open and close programs at a specific time?

[FreddyC]

Hi guys,

I need a way to open and close a program, .exe for example, at a specific time and close it again at a later time. Are there any softwares for windows (especially W7) that does this? Or just a tweak for windows that would do the trick?

Thanks.

 

[Orbital Shark]

You can use 'Task Scheduller' to run specific files (exe, MP3, AVI). You can set specific conditions on when to start and when to stop. I don't use the program but as far as i can see there are plenty of customization available.

 

[Pogi]

Hi guys,

I need a way to open and close a program, .exe for example, at a specific time and close it again at a later time. Are there any softwares for windows (especially W7) that does this? Or just a tweak for windows that would do the trick?

Thanks.

Try Autoit, see if it fits the bill.

 

[LePoilu]

Task Scheduler (windows feature) is the easiest way to do this.

 

[Barman58]

Hello Freddy,

This basic tutorial from our other site should give you all the basics you need without having to add any 3rd party programs, It's for Vista but the basics still apply.

Task Scheduler - Create Task - Vista Forums

 

[FreddyC]

Thanks a lot for the help guys, I just set the task scheduler up. I actually forgot this function was there, never used it though.

One question, if the task is to open a program, how to you close (terminate) it? I put under "stop task if running longer than" option in Triggers tab. Is this how you do it? I noticed there were 2 "stop task if running longer than" options: one in Triggers, one in Settings tab, I unchecked the other one, will this affect anything?

Thanks!

 

[Barman58]

Hi Freddy,

The closing is normally best left to the actual program to terminate itself, where this is possible, If you use the scheduler to close the program after a time you do run the risk of data loss caused by closing the program whilst a write is in progress.

If you have to use the scheduler either method of closing the program should work, but is always best to try out any set-up to see which works the best in the particular circumstances

 

[LePoilu]

Unfortunatly, closing a software via task scheduler couldn't be other way than killing the task.

Myself I use the command "taskkill" for closing Outlook before daily save of my *.pst files (no access allowed to this files until outlook is running).

 

[Barman58]

If you need to "Kill" more than one process to complete your schedule you may want to have a look at KillProcess, which is quite customisable ....

Orange Lamp Software Solutions

Obviously I have to say again that allowing a process to complete naturally is the best way if at all possible

 

[G2gCya]

try running a batch file maybe?

 

[johngalt]

If you want the task to close at a certain time every day, try this:

Create *2* Task Scheduler items. One that runs it, and another that runs it again about 1 minute before you want it to stop - and have it kill any previous processes (If Task is already running, kill it before starting this one). Then, have that second one end itself in 1 minute.