There can be a lot of situations when it is required to automatically turn on the computer. Someone is trying to configure receiving updates for the system, someone starts downloading torrents, considering the PC turn-on time to be the most suitable for the minimum traffic charge, and someone turning on the terminal or laptop is necessary for the alarm to work, etc. Next, we will consider a few ways to configure the computer to automatically turn on according to a schedule. There are at least three methods that can be used: the application of the settings of the primary BIOS / UEFI systems, the means of Windows operating systems and specialized third-party programs, which, however, have much greater capabilities than standard tools and tools.
Automatically turn on the computer: user misconceptions
But before turning to the consideration of the main topic, it is worth saying a few words about the most common misconceptions that exist among ordinary users.
For some reason, many believe that such settings can only be made if the stationary terminal or laptop is in sleep mode or in hibernation mode.
Nothing like this! In such modes, the computer is clearly not in the off state, and the process of turning on is nothing but waking up from sleep. But how to configure the computer to automatically turn on in time, if it is completely turned off? For stationary PCs, the main condition is the availability of power (the terminal should not be disconnected from the mains). With laptops, the situation is much simpler, since they are powered by an internal battery, and disconnecting them from the network can be completely painless, but provided that the battery is fully or at least partially charged.
How to configure the computer to turn on automatically in the BIOS
The first to consider how to set the necessary parameters in primary systems. BIOS settings are slightly different from the parameters of more modern UEFI systems.
So, first of all, when you turn on your PC or laptop, you need to enter the BIOS menu using keys or their combination (for laptops they can vary quite a lot, but for stationary terminals the Del key is mainly used). The applied combination appears briefly on the start screen.
Typically, you can configure your computer to turn on automatically in the Power Management section or in the ACPI Configuration settings. In both cases, you need to find the Power-On by Alarm parameter or something similar and set its value to Enabled. Just below, you must specify the days on which the inclusion will be made, and the time. Everyday value corresponds to daily inclusion. If you set the calendar date from the 1st to the 31st day, the computer will turn on once a month on the scheduled day and time, which seems somewhat inconvenient. There are no settings for several dates in the BIOS options.
Setting up inclusion in UEFI
In newer UEFI systems, it is also possible to configure the inclusion of a computer on a schedule. After entering the parameters at the start of the PC or laptop, you must go into advanced mode by pressing the F7 key.
On the Advanced tab, the APM item is selected, and in the list that appears, the activation mode via RTC is activated with the corresponding button, the time and days of activation activation are set, after which the installed options are saved when exiting.
Initial Actions in the Task Scheduler
In principle, in order not to rummage through the settings of the primary systems, you can also use the tools of the operating system itself, which is called the task scheduler (in most cases, automatically turning the computer on and off in Windows 10 or in earlier systems is done using it, although they can be turned off use the same optimization programs that turn off the computer on their own at the end of a scheduled check and fix found problems).
First you should go to the power section, go to the additional settings in the settings of the current circuit, find the sleep item in the displayed list and tick off the line for resolving sleep timers. After that, you can proceed with the task scheduler.
The scheduler itself can be called through a search or through the "Control Panel". But the fastest way to access it is to use the "Run" console, in which the taskschd.msc command is written.
In the editor window on the left, the section of the scheduler libraries is selected, and on the right, the item for creating a new task is used. After that, you need to come up with the name of the created task and enter its short description.
Trigger creation
The next step will be to switch to the tab of triggers where you need to click the create trigger button (as a rule, the main field will be empty).
Next, from the list above, you need to select the scheduled task execution and set the frequency, using the start time and daily execution parameters for this.
Action creation
After setting the necessary options, you should go to the action tab and select, for example, the message display that will appear when you turn on the computer in the list.
In the header and text fields of the message, enter what you think is necessary (for example, “Good morning!”) And save the changes.
Note: in the action list you can select other options related to playing a music file, starting torrent downloads, installing updates, etc.
Setting conditions
Finally, the most important option. In the conditions tab window, you need to deactivate all items if they are active, leaving only the computer wake-up line to complete the task.
If you do not use it, there can be no question of any automatic turning on of the computer.
When saving the installed options, if the settings were made for a specific user registered in the system, a window for confirming the login and password, which are initially used to enter the system, can be displayed.
After completing all the steps, you can make sure that the automatic configuration is active, by the appearance of the created task in the main window of the scheduler, for which the value “Ready” will be indicated in the status column.
Third Party Utilities
You can use third-party utilities to set automated power-on parameters. One of the simplest, but very interesting, is a program for automatically turning on the computer or turning off the same under the name Time PC.
Quick settings for daily modes are made by activating the “Off / On. PC ”, and to set the days of the week on which this action will be activated, you should use the scheduler section. After setting the necessary options, it remains only to press the start button, after which the task will be executed at the set frequency at the selected time.
Equally simple is the Auto Power-on & Shut-down utility. It also uses the settings in the scheduler section, but there are much more options in the application, since it allows you to automate some other modes (hibernation, restart, shutdown, start programs, stop processes, open files or links on the Internet, etc.).
Another application is Wake Me Up. It can be called a kind of lightweight version of the Windows Task Scheduler. But the settings made by creating a new task here are simpler and more understandable.
Disabling the set mode
Finally, a few words on how to turn off the automatic inclusion of a computer. In general, it all comes down to deactivating the set mode. In primary systems, the Disabled parameter is set for this mode. In the scheduler, the created task is deleted. To disconnect without deleting a task, simply change the settings of the sleep timers, which were described above for the power section.
What to give preference to?
Only the question remains unresolved, which of the above is best used from a practical point of view. As many have already understood, it is easiest to use special programs, since they are distinguished by the maximum ease of configuration and the ability to set the computer to turn on / off by day of the week for a month. Parameters of primary systems also do not look particularly complicated. And actions with the scheduler, by and large, duplicate the BIOS / UEFI settings, adding perhaps the ability to create a description of the task, display a message, or configure other actions.
But, based on purely practical considerations, I think the best option would be to use the Auto Power-on & Shut-down program, because it has the most advanced tools for all occasions. Some users may object that the use of third-party utilities will lead to the fact that they will constantly work in the background and "hang" in the system tray with dead weight. One may not agree with this, since initially in such applications resource consumption is minimized as much as possible, and they are activated only according to the schedule established for the execution of the created tasks. Actually, if you look, the operation occurs once a day, if several tasks are not planned in the settings.