Set Vista to automatically shut down at a certain time?

[comjakun]

Hey guys, I have an annoying younger brother whom my parents wants me to control his time at the computer playing games, so they asked me whether I could set a certain time where the Windows would automatically shut down at a certain time, say 10.00pm or so.

I realised that this isn't foolproof enough so I would like to set subsequent 5 minutes after that time where Windows would shut down again if he turns it back on.

How do I do this? I should think it would require some batch file or registry or something that will do this. Anybody can teach me how? Thanks in advance.

[DuranXL]

you can save shutdown -s -t 300 as a bat file and add it to the startup.

You'll need to teach the rest to use shutdown -a if they want to use the PC though
edit: or just create an account for him? this way you could add a password.
Also, you could add batch files for just his account

[comjakun]

you can save shutdown -s -t 300 as a bat file and add it to the startup.

You'll need to teach the rest to use shutdown -a if they want to use the PC though
edit: or just create an account for him? this way you could add a password.
Also, you could add batch files for just his account

What will this do if you don't mind me asking? Does this set Vista to automatically shutdown after 300minutes or something?

EDIT: He already has his own account. I just need the necessary files to setup an auto shutdown at certain times in the day and night.

[Dibrom]

What if he changed the clock?

[Spuddy]

task scheduler - every day - 10pm - batch file

SHUTDOWN -s -t 01

If he changed the clock that would stop the batch from running. If you have a remote machine on the network, do the above but put this in the batch

SHUTDOWN -s -m \\machinename -t 01

(you need local admin rights for the remote machine)

[comjakun]

task scheduler - every day - 10pm - batch file

SHUTDOWN -s -t 01

If he changed the clock that would stop the batch from running. If you have a remote machine on the network, do the above but put this in the batch

SHUTDOWN -s -m \\machinename -t 01

(you need local admin rights for the remote machine)

What does machinename stand for? His username? All the computers in my home are running on the same network with administrator accounts on all of them including my brother's.

EDIT: I'll check back later after I get back from class in the evening. Cheers.

[Dibrom]

task scheduler - every day - 10pm - batch file

SHUTDOWN -s -t 01

If he changed the clock that would stop the batch from running. If you have a remote machine on the network, do the above but put this in the batch

SHUTDOWN -s -m \\machinename -t 01

(you need local admin rights for the remote machine)

You'd have to set it as a reoccuring event for him not to just turn the comp back on.

[comjakun]

You'd have to set it as a reoccuring event for him not to just turn the comp back on.

How do I do that? From what I gather right now from the posts above, I have to copy the whole thing into notepad and save it as .bat right?

But then this would only work once at exactly 10pm right? How do I set this "reoccuring event "so that it will execute at every 5 minute interval until around 5AM?

And another question, does the remote machine mean any computer on the LAN including mine? Does this mean that I can turn his computer off through mine?

[Spuddy]

What does machinename stand for? His username? All the computers in my home are running on the same network with administrator accounts on all of them including my brother's.

EDIT: I'll check back later after I get back from class in the evening. Cheers.

\\machinename would be whatever the computer name is. As already mentioned it'd need to be reoccuring every day and also there is nothing stopping him from switching it back on. If you're looking to limit access at certain times you'll need to look into third party software.

[comjakun]

\\machinename would be whatever the computer name is. As already mentioned it'd need to be reoccuring every day and also there is nothing stopping him from switching it back on. If you're looking to limit access at certain times you'll need to look into third party software.

Ah ok, so it will only execute at 10pm sharp and he could just turn the machine back on huh?

How about if I created multiple batches but with different times and scheduled them. Will that work?