Lifehacker: The Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, and Better, Third Edition

Hack 64: Automatically Reboot and Launch Applications

Level Easy

Platform Windows

Cost Free

Windows PC users know that every once in a while, your computer can slow down or run into problems that are magically resolved when you restart. A PC that’s on continuously 24 hours a day — especially when it’s hard at work at night running the automated tasks outlined in this chapter — can benefit from a regular reboot to clear out memory and end any hanging software processes. Furthermore, chances are, you start your workday with a set number of software applications, such as Microsoft Outlook and your morning-paper web sites.

In this hack, you schedule an early morning reboot and launch the software you need to get to work before you even sit down at your desk.

Automatically Reboot Your Computer

It’s the middle of the night. Your computer has backed itself up, defragged the hard drives, and fetched you new music from all over the Web. Now it’s time to begin the new day with a fresh start.

1. Choose Start, type task scheduler, and press Enter.

2. In the Task Scheduler window, click Create Task.

3. Name the new job Reboot; then click the Triggers tab.

4. Click New; then set the task schedule to Daily, one hour before you usually sit down at your computer.

5. On the Action tab, click New and enter the following in the Program/script input, as shown in Figure 7-11.

C:\WINDOWS\system32\shutdown.exe -r -t 01

Figure 7-11: The Reboot scheduled task.

Notice that the arguments -r -t 01 ...