How to set up your computer to turn on and off automatically. Light on/off timer

Light on and off timers are electrical devices that can be used to organize automatic lighting control. Suitable for domestic and industrial consumers. Including timers in the lighting network design can significantly reduce the cost of expensive electricity and simplify the control of outdoor lighting, because in this case, there is no need to be on site to turn the light on and off. There are a large number of models of timers and switches that are used for different lighting networks.

Lanterns with timer for street lighting

Light switch with timer

According to the type of installation, automatic light switching relays are distinguished, mounted:

On the wall. It is necessary to install on an insulating base; a protective laying of cable and wire products should be provided.
In the socket. It is necessary to select socket boxes of the appropriate size.
On DIN rail. Installed on all boxes designed for modular electrical equipment. At the same time, it is possible to control the light from several places.

Lighting timer type TO-2

Appearance of timer TO-2

The light switching timer of the TO-2 series is designed for constant automatic switching on of the lighting system (turning it off at night) according to an autonomous table of the movement of the Sun. Also used as a time relay, which turns on lighting networks at a selected period of time. The maximum lighting load for 1 device is no more than 1 kW.

Application

Security lighting of facility areas, emergency lighting of non-residential buildings. In this mode, the timer turns on the lamps after sunset and turns off at sunrise.
Lighting of areas of garden association houses and local areas. Identical to the first mode. It is also possible to turn off the lighting load at a specified time interval.
Billboard lighting. Operating mode – only during the designated time period.

Principle of operation

The controller compares the readings of the built-in clock with an astronomical table and transmits signals to two relays.
Relay No. 1 turns on the timer for the light only according to the readings of the built-in clock.
Relay No. 2 works similarly, there is also an additional function to turn off the load for a certain period of time (set by settings).

Device settings

It consists of setting the date and time for the correct operation of the twilight relay. Settings are controlled using buttons located on the front panel of the device.

Advantages

Availability of a six-digit indicator;
Possibility of installation on DIN rail;
Reducing financial costs for electricity;
Equipment resistance to temperature changes;
Ability to operate in 50…300 V networks;
Fast reprogramming;
Saving the specified settings when the external power is turned off;
Electronic display that displays device parameters.

Important! To connect a large load, the circuit must be supplemented with contactors and additional relays.

Preparatory work before turning on the device

Select the electrical connection diagram (for large load values, use contactors);
Install the device and switch in the lighting control panel;
Connect the device with cables or wires to the power supply and lamps via a relay;
Apply voltage to the device.

Models of the TO-2 series are programmed to be able to shift the relay response time (up to 127 minutes in both directions).

It is recommended to carry out technical inspection and routine diagnostics of the device at least once every six months. The terminal blocks and fastening of the timer, the connection points of the electrical circuit elements are subject to inspection.

Modes

Indications. Normal operating mode, the display shows all timer operating parameters at the current time.
Settings. Set the current date and time.
Checks. Test mode to check the functionality of the device.
Settings. Correction of previously set operating values of the device.

Important! Calibration and repairs of timers must be performed in specialized service centers or at manufacturing plants.

Lighting timer type TO-47

Models of the TO-47 series are designed for automatically turning on and off lighting networks with halogen and incandescent lamps on landings and other premises. The device turns on the lighting for a period of 1 to 7 minutes. The maximum load on the device is 3.5 kV.

Device connection options

The light off timer can operate in three-wire and four-wire electrical networks (the products are specially equipped with a switch for the number of wires).

When choosing scheme No. 1 (three-wire networks), the circuit is assembled without the possibility of connecting an additional lighting load after the switch;
Scheme No. 2 is four-wire with the ability to connect additional lamps (lamps) via a switch.

Connection procedure

Mount the TO-47 modular timer on a DIN rail using a special latch (for modular devices);
Connect external buttons according to the electrical diagrams.

Manual control

The TO-47 is controlled by a switch knob located on the front panel of the device.

When moved to the position with the “Lamp” icon, the contacts close and the backlight starts to turn on (before the lever is forced to move to its original position).

When the lever is moved once to the “double circle” position, a timer is activated with a specified time shutdown setting.

If the timer is controlled by an external button, the lever must be moved to the “double circle” position.

To increase the operating mode, a switch is provided in the “On” position. When the timer switch is turned on, the contacts are constantly closed; the contacts open when switched to the “Off” position.

Photo relay on timer 555

The 555 sleep timer is a universal one, one of the most common devices for generating single and repeating signals (pulses), stably linked to time intervals. Based on the 555 timer and a phototransistor, it is possible to manufacture a photo relay that operates from a 12V network.

Application

Photo relays based on timer 555 are used to automate lighting networks: external, indoor, etc.

General view of timer 555

Video on the topic

Automatically turn your computer on and off- quite useful functions that few people use. Your computer can automatically turn on and, for example, play loud music (be a banal alarm clock), or at a certain time it can launch important tasks necessary to perform important tasks, automatically open applications, such as torrents (download or distribute), etc. Automatically turning on your computer can make life much easier. Imagine a situation: morning, you woke up - and the PC is already turned on, pleasant music is playing, the browser has already opened everything you need for work... or another: evening, a very boring movie, too lazy to switch it off and you fell asleep... At a certain time, the computer will close everything and will go into standby mode without interfering with your sleep. That’s great, isn’t it? But you haven’t used such opportunities yet... Well, don't worry - it's not difficult at all! And so - let's get started!

To teach your computerturn on automaticallyand to schedule shutdown we need a small utility. But when writing an article about automatically turning on a computer, I had to test several programs, from which I selected the two that performed the tasks best. I did not dare to leave only one program, Therefore, I will describe the operation of both programs at once to automatically turn on the computer, and you will already decide which one to use.

Automatically turning on the computer - method 1

The program we will use forautomatically turn on the computer, called - WakeMeUp! You can also use it as a multifunctional alarm clock program for personal computers running operating systems. Windows systems. You can download it at the end of the article. The program has a fairly simple Russian interface. It won't be difficult to figure it out! But, perhaps, we will consider the basic settings and example of application in detail.

Like all programs to automatically turn on your computer, WakeMeUp uses S3 functions.

A little theory: S3 “Suspend to RAM” (STR) in BIOS, “Standby” in Windows versions up to Windows XP and in some variations of Linux. "Sleep" in Windows Vista and Mac OS X, although the ACPI specifications are only referred to as S3 and Sleep. In this state, random access memory (RAM) continues to receive power and remains virtually the only component consuming power. Since the state of the operating system and all applications, open documents, etc. is stored in random access memory, the user can resume work exactly where he left it - the state of RAM when returning from S3 is the same as before entering this mode.

And so - the conclusion: so that your computer can automatically turn on when specified time, you do not need to turn off the computer, butput it in standby mode.

Example of how the program works

Open the program. To manage events WakeMeUp! uses its own task scheduler, implemented as a system service. Let's try to create some events.

Click “Create” and a completely understandable menu will appear in front of us - configure it!

The name of the event, how often - for example, let’s take the automatic turning on of the computer “Every day”. Time is optional. Now you need to specify the action. Select play sound, and specify the path to the melody. Or take “run com. line" and specify, for example, Winamp... Thus, we created an event that will automatically start the computer and play music. Events, which means automatic actions, you can create as many as you need, there are no restrictions.

Important - the “Cuckoo” option should always be in the “On” position. Otherwise, the computer will not wake up. You can also set the default to enabled in the settings. for each event.

But the program has one significant drawback - it does not open all shortcuts (with the “*.lnk” extension). But files such as *.doc, *.txt, etc. and browsers and other programs - opens.

Benefits of the program:

ONotifies you about the occurrence of an event without being launched, because A special system service is responsible for this, which always works.

OSpecially designed for those who like to fall asleep to music, TV, videos, etc. During operation, it will smoothly reduce the sound volume. When the set operating time has expired, it will put the PC into sleep mode and/or close the selected program.

OThe program implements 8 event frequency modes, so even a very complex event can be configured in a couple of clicks!

OAlmost any sound can be played as a reminder of an event. Also in WakeMeUp! There is a function to smoothly increase the sound level for a smooth awakening.

OIt can automatically establish the specified connection. If for some reason the radio cannot be turned on, the backup file you specified will be played. In WakeMeUp! There are already settings for about 30 stations, you can also specify the URL of the .pls file of any other station.

OIt can launch a program or open a file as a reminder. And given that WakeMeUp! knows how to put the computer into sleep mode, you can automate a number of actions. If the owner of the event is logged in, command line will be executed on his behalf. Otherwise it will be used Account Local System. An example of such automation is the recording of a television program broadcast late at night or when you are not at home.

If WakeMeUp! does not wake up your computer from sleep mode - you may need to make some settings in the BIOS. Information on this matter can be found at the end of the article.

Automatically turning on the computer - method 2

This time we will automatically turn on the computer using another program. The computer will automatically turn on from sleep mode. The advantages and disadvantages of the method will also be described below. You can automatically turn on your computer using the TimePC program. You can download it at the bottom of the article. The program is very easy to manage. It will not be difficult to understand, since it is completely in Russian. During the setup process everything will become clear. Let's get started!

We launch the program for automatically turning on the computer - TimePC.

We will practically not change the settings. Let's go straight to the “Off/On PC” tab.

Here you can configure the computer to automatically turn on/off, but only once, on a specific date. Better to use a Planner! Let's move on to it.

Using the scheduler, you can schedule the computer to automatically turn on on certain days of the week.

Using this function, it is possible to launch any programs immediately after waking up the computer.

Benefits of the program:

OTimePC will automatically start the PC, provided that the program itself turns it off.

OThe TimePC program interface is very simple, all settings and functions fit into one small window.

OSupports Russian and English languages, runs under Windows XP/Vista/7.

OTimePC uses an ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) feature called hibernation.

What to do if the computer is not comes out of sleep?

Most modern computers competently know how to put the PC into this mode. If the PC does not support hibernation mode, the program will not wake the computer from “deep sleep”. If in the BIOS settings motherboard There are ACPI settings, but when the TimePC program shuts down the computer (more correctly, it goes into hibernation), the fan continues to make noise, then you need to select the value S3/STR in the ACPI Sleep Time option (there is also S1/POS).We enter BIOS Setup and in the "Power Management Setup" menu set the value to "ACPI Suspend Type".

Here in principle and everything that concerns automatically turning on the computer.

If you know more a simple way to automatically turn on your computer - write in the comments.

Very simple program TimePC to turn off the computer on a schedule. It will also turn it on according to a schedule that you set up yourself.

There are situations when the computer is performing some task, and you urgently need to run somewhere. Well, you just can't be late. It is not good to interrupt the process, and not to complete it is also bad.

And many people don’t like to fall asleep in complete silence and turn on music or just a movie to do this. If only it made noise. A person is resting, but the computer continues to work and overheat.

Well, to prevent this from happening, let’s install a special program - TimePC. Using this program, you can set a command for the computer to turn off at a certain time.

Although the operating system has something similar (power settings), the standard function does not completely turn off the computer, but only puts the computer into sleep mode. Not bad, but still not the same compared to the TimePC program.

The program has additional useful features. In addition to the fact that it can automatically turn off the computer at a time specified by the user, it can also turn it on. Even run, at the user’s request, some program or several programs.

Let's see how simple it is. The program is displayed in three languages, but after installing it the interface will be in Russian. You won't have to change anything.

In the settings you can uncheck the “ Close open programs when shutting down“

The fact is that when we turn off the computer with this program, we can choose one of two modes. The first is a normal shutdown, as we are all used to, the second is hibernation.
Hibernation(hibernation) translated from English as “hibernation” or simply “sleep” In this mode, the computer rests, but before turning off, it remembers everything that was open and running and saves it in the right place on a non-volatile storage device.

This is very convenient if you did not have time to complete work in some programs or open folders. When you turn on the computer, everything will remain in its place.

Next item “ Check for updates“Here I also unchecked the box. Who knows, maybe the programmers missed something somewhere and the program will start not working correctly. Well, for now I’m happy with this working version, I’m working with it, without updating.

Let's move on to the main thing. In the left column select “Off/On PC”

On the right side of the program, check the box next to “ Turn off computer“We set the shutdown time, but we don’t have to touch the date, it is already substituted for the date configured on the computer. Unless you want to turn off your PC tomorrow or in a few days.

Now you need to select the shutdown mode. As I wrote above, there are two modes. Choose which one is more convenient for you. You can also schedule it to turn on after a certain time. Once configured, click the “Apply” button and check if everything is correct. If you made a mistake in the time or date, you can click the “Cancel” button and reconfigure everything.

We’ve sorted out the one-time setup, now let’s move on to “” Everything is the same here. We set the time to turn off and turn on the computer for a whole week. There is no sleep mode in the scheduler.

Once configured, click the “Run” button and check if everything is correct.

By the way, before the computer turns off, the program will notify you about it 30 seconds in advance. If you are at the computer at this moment, you can turn it off by clicking on the button labeled “STOP.” Go to “ Launching programs”

Here we can specify the program that we want to run along with the operating system. For example, a player with music. You will get an unusual alarm clock. We can add a browser to the player so that we can check our emails right away in the morning. TimePC allows you to run several programs at once.

Click the “Add” button. An explorer window will open. In the left column, select “Desktop.” In most cases, when installing a program, it leaves its shortcut on the desktop. From the desktop, select the shortcut for the program you need. You need to look for programs that come with Windows on drive C in the Program Files or C:\Windows folder. Let's say standard program Notepad which is located at C:\Windows\system32

To remove a program from autorun, you need to select it and click the “Remove” button.

And that's all. Download the program and use it.

Download from Yandex disk

This is useful to know:

To reduce your computer's energy consumption, you just need to put it into sleep mode; the same method increases the loading speed of the operating system by not turning it on and rebooting.

Another undeniable advantage of this method is the ability to set the time to exit sleep mode to start the necessary tasks.

Instructions

1. Click the “Start” menu button in the lower left corner of the monitor. Select “All programs”, then “Accessories” - “Services”. Click the “Task Scheduler” button to open this program.

2. Click “Create a task” in the “Actions” column on the right (not “Create a simple task”). We assign a name for the building. You can also write a task description. No other settings need to be changed.

3. Click on the “Triggers” tab, then “Create”. In the menu that appears, select the “Schedule” option. We mark the desired frequency of the task with a checkbox, for example, daily, weekly, monthly. We set the desired date and time when your Personal Computer will come out of the sleep state. Installing necessary settings for each option (daily, weekly, etc.). Click "Ok".

4. Click on the “Actions” tab, then “Create”. Click in the menu that appears next to “Action” and select the action after the personal computer wakes from sleep mode. Usually this is launching some program or sending Email. If you just need to wake up your PC, select the bottom option, Display Message, and then set some information to display after waking up. If you select “Run a program,” then mark the program to launch after the personal computer wakes from sleep mode. If you checked “Sending email”, then fill out the required lines. After all these operations, click “Ok”.

5. Click on the “Conditions” tab. Check the box next to “Wake up the computer to complete a task.” It is this option that will wake up your favorite computer running Windows Vista strictly at the time you specify. You don't have to change anything in the Options tab. Click "Ok". Now your personal computer will “wake up” at the time you specified and, if necessary, perform the required task.

Notes

If your beloved computer is left unattended, it is still better to check the power settings to make sure that the computer will go to sleep mode after a certain time.

If your personal computer is configured so that a screen asking you to log in appears after waking from sleep mode, this will not prevent you from sending email or starting a program. However, if you want to see the text, you will have to log in first.

The idea of setting up a computer so that it automatically turns on at a given time comes to mind for many people. Some people want to use their PC as an alarm clock, others need to start downloading torrents at the most advantageous time according to tariff plan time, others want to schedule installation of updates, virus scans, or other similar tasks. How these desires can be realized will be discussed further.

There are several ways you can configure your computer to turn on automatically. This can be done using the tools provided in the computer hardware, methods provided in the operating system, or special programs from third party manufacturers. Let's look at these methods in more detail.

Method 1: BIOS and UEFI

Probably everyone who is at least a little familiar with the principles of computer operation has heard about the existence of BIOS (Basic Input-Output System). She is responsible for testing and regular inclusion of all components hardware PC, and then transfers control to the operating system. The BIOS contains many different settings, including the ability to turn on the computer in automatic mode. Let’s make a reservation right away that this function is not present in all BIOS, but only in more or less modern versions of it.

To schedule your PC to start automatically via BIOS, you need to do the following:

Currently, the BIOS interface is considered outdated. IN modern computers it was replaced by UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface). Its main purpose is the same as that of the BIOS, but the possibilities are much wider. It is much easier for the user to work with UEFI thanks to mouse support and Russian language in the interface.

Configuring your computer to turn on automatically using UEFI is as follows:

Configuring automatic startup using BIOS or UEFI is the only way that allows you to perform this operation on a completely turned off computer. In all other cases, we are not talking about turning on, but about waking up the PC from hibernation or sleep mode.

It goes without saying that in order for auto-on to work, the computer's power cord must remain plugged into the outlet or UPS.

Method 2: Task Scheduler

You can also configure your computer to turn on automatically using system settings. Windows tools. A task scheduler is used for this. Let's look at how this is done using Windows 7 as an example.

First, you need to allow the system to automatically turn on/off the computer. To do this, you need to open the section in the control panel "System and safety" and in the section "Power supply" follow the link "Setting sleep mode".

Then in the window that opens, follow the link "Change advanced power settings".

After that, find in the list of additional parameters "Dream" and there set the permission for wakeup timers to the state "Turn on".

Now you can configure a schedule for automatically turning on your computer. To do this you need to do the following:

Open your planner. The easiest way to do this is through the menu "Start", where there is a special field for searching for programs and files.

Start typing the word “scheduler” in this field so that a link to open the utility appears in the top line.

To open the scheduler, just left-click on it. It can also be launched via the menu “Start” - “Standard” - “Service”, or through the window “Run” (Win+R) by entering the taskschd.msc command there.
In the scheduler window, go to the section "Task Scheduler Library".
On the right side of the window, select "Create task".
Come up with a name and description for the new task, for example, “Turn on your computer automatically.” In the same window, you can configure the parameters with which the computer will wake up: the user under whom you will log in and the level of his rights. As a third step, be sure to indicate operating system, to which the action of this task will be applied, in other words, the version of your Windows.
Go to the tab "Triggers" and click on the button "Create".
Set the frequency and time for the computer to automatically turn on, for example, every day at 7.30 am.
Go to the tab "Actions" and create a new action similar to the previous paragraph. Here you can configure what should happen when the task is completed. Let's make sure that some message is displayed on the screen.

If desired, you can configure another action, for example, playing an audio file, launching a torrent or another program.
Go to the tab "Conditions" and check the checkbox "Wake up the computer to perform a task". Add other marks if necessary.

This point is key when creating our task.
Complete the process by pressing the key "OK". If the general settings specified logging in as a specific user, the scheduler will ask you to specify his name and password.

This completes setting up the computer to automatically turn on using the scheduler. Evidence of the correctness of the actions taken will be the appearance of a new task in the scheduler task list.

The result of its execution will be to wake up the computer every day at 7.30 am and display the message “Good morning!” on the screen.

Method 3: Third Party Programs

You can also create a computer operating schedule using programs created by third-party developers. To some extent, they all duplicate the functions of the system task scheduler. Some have significantly reduced functionality in comparison with it, but compensate for this with ease of setup and a more convenient interface. However, there are not many software products that can wake a computer from sleep mode. Let's look at some of them in more detail.

Small free program, in which there is nothing superfluous. After installation, it minimizes to tray. By calling it from there, you can set up a schedule for turning on/off your computer.

Thus, turning on/off the computer will be scheduled regardless of the date.

Auto Power-on & Shut-down

Another program with which you can turn on your computer automatically. The program does not have a Russian-language interface by default, but you can find a localizer for it on the Internet. The program is paid, a 30-day trial version is offered for review.

WakeMeUp!

The interface of this program has functionality typical of all alarm clocks and reminders. The program is paid, trial version provided for 15 days. Its disadvantages include the long absence of updates. In Windows 7 it was possible to run it only in Windows 2000 compatibility mode with administrative rights.

This concludes our consideration of ways to automatically turn on a computer on a schedule. The information provided is sufficient to orient the reader to the possibilities for solving this problem. And which method to choose is up to him to decide.