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Is there any way to switch on the computer automatically at a specific time. Is there any BIOS clock trigger mechanisms available to switch on automatically.

EDIT: I have a Dell Inspiron laptop. Does Wake-On-Lan work with wi-fi :-)?

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11 Answers 11

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Some motherboards do have the option of being set up to power-up at a certain time each day.

Other ways of getting a computer to power up include wake-on-ring and wake-on-LAN which as the terms suggest wake the machine via the modem or the LAN (network) card. Depending on how you are set up, you could send the wake up signal to your computer via a modem or a LAN. Perhaps a long shot but these may be possibilities for you. If not, then as the other comment says, you are going to have to put the (time) switch in the mains supply into the computer.

Source :http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=472123

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    And here's the source: answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=472123
    – innaM
    Aug 10, 2009 at 12:12
  • Thanks for that. I have missed source after put that here
    – joe
    Aug 10, 2009 at 12:43
  • Our Dells at work have this feature, Auto Power On. Nice to have the machine sitting there waiting to go when you get in. Can set it for everyday or just weekday.
    – Bonus
    Sep 16, 2009 at 20:40
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One way to wake up a Windows PC at a scheduled time is to create a scheduled task using Task Scheduler and check the "Wake the computer to run this task" option. Then put the PC in hibernate/sleep/suspend mode instead of powering it off.

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One way you could get this to work is have a powerd wifi bridge, which will allways be on and listening for packets. Have this plugged into the ethernet port of your laptop, so that it can recieve the magic packet.

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Different BIOSes has different settings. But in general, YES - there is such option.

On ASUS motherboards it is called Power On By RTC Alarm.

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Check your computer's BIOS Setup menus or the manual. A lot of the newer computers have this capability. I've used a Dell and an Acer, and both had the ability to

  1. Boot via LAN, or
  2. Turn on at a time specified via the BIOS Setup menu

I could choose to turn on one or the other independently via the BIOS setup menu (typically reached by pressing F2 as the computer starts to boot).

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There is a Wake-On-Lan feature for BIOS. You can use a relay with circuit (to send appropriate current at appropriate voltage) to trigger it on.

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    If using a relay and circuit then why not simply trigger the power button rather than the Wake-On-Lan?
    – Paul Woodward
    Aug 10, 2009 at 11:59
  • yeah i also wondered that way. Probably what he meant is without opening the box.
    – softwarematter
    Aug 10, 2009 at 12:05
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I am not sure about the bios clock (I'm sure someone will be).

However there is another way to do it. Some computers have wake on LAN. So in theory you could have a scheduled job on another computer to send the correct packet to the off computer to turn it on.

For wake on lan to work, the network card needs to be powered and listening, so it won't work with wifi (in most cases, some wifi cards do support it). However if you have a laptop, they can work with wake on call.

However, most of the time, it is probably best to keep a computer on as power cycling is supposed to be one of the most damaging things you can do to a computer. A lot of modern systems can be set to not draw much power when not being used.

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Windows has the feature that it can listen to events even while asleep (not sure this is the correct way of describing it). In Windows power management its called "Allow wake timers". When this is active, software can wake up the computer at a specified time. Alarm clocks for Windows use that feature.

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It's rather off-topic, but may prove useful to others in similar situations but slightly different requirements.

You can modify a wireless doorbell to turn your pc on and off rather easily. Check out the 3-page guide here

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SetPower can turn your PC on from sleep at certain times. It's a freeware tool, here's the blurb:

SetPower is a utility that lets you choose different power management profiles for your computer based on the time of day. So, if you want your computer to stay on during the day, but sleep overnight, that's not something you can do with the built-in power management functionality in Windows. SetPower adds the ability to control which profile is in effect at a given time.

Small note on Wake on Lan

Good luck getting Wake on Lan (WOL) working - I've tried every variation from every forum for my hardware over the past month and failed on all of them, including:

  • Static LAN IP address
  • Port forwarding 7 on UDP and TCP/IP to both the IP address and xxx.127 which I read
  • Enabled Wake on Lan on the network adapter
  • Enabled Wake on Lan on the motherboard and all options
  • Changed the port the cable was attached to
  • Tried all magic packet tools to rule that out

Utter frustration and hours of my life wasted!

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ShutDownOne Pro is a tray-based system utility that can automatically perform various frequently-used operations such as shutting down, restarting, switching power off or locking your computer.

enter image description here

Note: ShutDownOne Pro can also turn on your computer at specified time. It can run programs before performing operation or after windows resumes from restart as well as from sleep mode.

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    So you've found it easy to use?
    – random ♦
    Aug 10, 2009 at 11:18
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    ya,, it is .. but it also have some concerns
    – joe
    Aug 10, 2009 at 11:22

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