Martin Lea complains that his washing machine is more automated than his PC, but there are some simple ways to improve that situation?
Sometimes it seems as though my washing machine is more automated than my computer when it comes to the simple things. I would like my PC to boot up every morning at the time I set, load Firefox with a couple of my favourite websites and load Thunderbird for my email. Then I won't have to spend 20 minutes every morning watching the computer start up, download all its updates, run its checks, start up the applications and so on before I can do anything with it. How can I arrange this simply, please? If possible, I'd rather not write scripts, create macros, or "walk" my computer through the tasks? any more than I want to walk my washing machine through the stages of a cotton wash.
Martin Lea
Some solutions require little or no work. For example, you could leave your PC running all the time, or you could select Hibernate instead of turning off your computer. When your PC hibernates, it stores everything in a file on your hard drive so it can start up exactly where you left off. Hibernation uses little or no power, so it's cheaper than leaving your PC running all the time.
There may also be a setting in your PC's BIOS chip, which you can use to turn it on at a specific time. Access the Setup by following the messages before Windows starts, and look for a setting that says something like "Power ON / RESUME By Alarm".
There are lots of different ways to make a program run when you start your PC. Perhaps the simplest is to put a link to the program into the Startup folder, which is accessed via the Start button. Select a program icon on your desktop, hold down the right mouse-button, drag it to Start then go through the program menu to the Startup folder. When you get there, release the mouse-button and select Create Shortcuts Here from the drop-down menu. It takes less than 10 seconds. Seven Forums has a tutorial for Windows 7 users.
Another option is to use the Scheduled Tasks utility. To find this, click Start, then All Programs, go to the Accessories folder, open System Tools and then click Scheduled Tasks. The first and possibly the only item in the main display panel (under Name) is Add Scheduled Task. Double click this item to run the Scheduled Task Wizard, which will list all your programs so you can pick the one you want. You have to tell it when you want the task to be performed, so select the penultimate option: "When my computer starts". Of course, people who don't like Wizards can enter tasks manually using the menu options.
Microsoft has a support document, How To Schedule Tasks in Windows XP. Windows 7 users should see Schedule a task and read the section: "To schedule a task to run automatically when the computer starts". It's pretty much the same.
You can take automation much further by using a "macro recorder". The basic idea is to start recording a macro, run the three or four programs you usually use, then stop recording and save the macro. After that you just have to run the macro to perform all the actions again, including mouse movements and clicks. Microsoft used to include an accessory called Macro Recorder with Windows 3.1 in the early 1990s, and Freelabs' Windows Macro Recorder looks like the same sort of thing.
There are, as usual, dozens of alternative ways of automating Windows, with the open source ;AutoIt being one of the more popular. The AlternativeTo website lists ;some of the alternatives. Commercial options include ;Macro Express, ;AutoMate and programs from Automation Anywhere Inc.
You said you'd rather not do any macro-recording, but it can save a lot of time in the long run, and it costs nothing to try. There's not much more to it than clicking a couple of buttons while you do what you'd have to do anyway.
Otherwise, I think you should find out why your PC takes 20 minutes (or whatever) to start up. A Windows XP machine shouldn't take more than two or three minutes to start up from cold, including any checks and downloads, and Windows 7 can start in less than a minute. Have a
look at one of my previous answers, ;10 steps to speed up a slow Windows PC, and see if you can get it down to a more reasonable number.
PCs looked after by not-very-competent IT departments can take 20 minutes to start, if they're all downloading everything from a server at the same time. (This is OK if you're actually getting paid for a free half hour of coffee and chat.) If a home PC takes a long time to start, something is wrong, and it could be malware-related.
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