Start PC at certain time and start downloading something?

[DryerRaptor4441]

What's up, so basically long story short my ISP has data caps, and these are disabled at 2AM-7AM so I can download as much as I can between these times.

I want to download siege and warzone again and my ISP only allows 700GB a month, so that would be out of the question normally.
(A heads up, if it matters, I own siege on steam and ofc I have warzone on battle.net)

Does anyone know a way (task scheduler, perhaps) in which I can set my PC to turn on/ leave sleep mode at 2am, sign in and start downloading games, then shut down at say 5am?

Thanks.

 

[DryerRaptor4441]

side note: i have a windows hello pin enabled to sign in, in case this matters

 

[ILuvGames]

Easiest way I guess would be to disable sleep mode/hibernation in the power saving options of Windows 10 and just leave your PC on. You can set a task using task scheduler to shutdown your PC at any time by folowing this guide here :-

https://www.onmsft.com/how-to/how-to-schedule-a-shutdown-in-windows-10

I couldn't find a workaround for battle.net but I found a workaround for steam here :-

http://www.binaryheartbeat.net/2016/11/schedule-steam-downloads.html

 

[Zalex]

Hi,

I know there was, maybe, still, a way to wake up the computer on W7.

On Win32 Tools maybe, or Task Scheduler, don't remember.


To AutoLogOn,
Read here whether fits your needs and options.

 

[DryerRaptor4441]

Easiest way I guess would be to disable sleep mode/hibernation in the power saving options of Windows 10 and just leave your PC on. You can set a task using task scheduler to shutdown your PC at any time by folowing this guide here :-

https://www.onmsft.com/how-to/how-to-schedule-a-shutdown-in-windows-10

I couldn't find a workaround for battle.net but I found a workaround for steam here :-

http://www.binaryheartbeat.net/2016/11/schedule-steam-downloads.html

Thanks, but the thing is I don't want to have to stay up to 2am to turn on my pc.

 

[KokoseiJ]

Maybe use PoE to turn on your PC? Raspberry Pi and crontab will do the job.

Leave your PC with no password so it could boot right on, and shut it down using shutdown -s -t 18000 or something like that.

 

[tech3475]

Only way I can think of without getting to convoluted would be to set task scheduler to wake up the computer at 2AM, then the night before start the download but put the computer to sleep.

https://www.howtogeek.com/119028/how-to-make-your-pc-wake-from-sleep-automatically/

 

[ILuvGames]

Sometimes there is a way in the bios of certain motherboards to turn the PC on at a certain time. The computer/laptop would still need power of course. You should only change bios settings if you know what you are changing and why as a general rule at it can cause serious problems if you don't.

You can set also up autologin using this tool as an alternate to the way Zalex linked to :-

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autologon

Or here if you are comfortable with registry editing (but try the other ways first) :-

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/tr...er-profiles-and-logon/turn-on-automatic-logon

 

[notimp]

It would be possible using wake on lan. Android app WoLOn ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bitklog.wolon&hl=en&gl=US ) has a scheduling feature.

So set your PC to be able to be woken up per wakeonlan (requires bios settings, windows settings, and a router that complies) - see this thread to get an idea.

Then set the windows account so a password is not needed on bootup.

Then follow up with autostart and/or startup scripts.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/12434863/executing-a-batch-script-on-windows-shutdown (should be similar for startup)

Steam could autostart, an once it does an autostart script could kick in (have it start with a few seconds delay, so steam can start up), that brings it to the foreground and clicks on some buttons - if needed.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/15483420/automate-mouse-click-in-windows-with-script-batch-file

Also - the android phone used has to be set up, so it doesnt kill the WoLOn app when it goes to standby, after a while.

Instead of the Android app you could also use a RaspPi, or anything that runs 24/7, really.

Pretty convoluted - but its possible..
-

I agree, that the easiest way to manage it would be to not let the PC go to sleep/hibernation, and just look into automating a few mouse clicks (last link above), setting that up as a script, and using the Windows scheduler to execute it at a certain time.

Shut down afaik can then also be scheduled via the Windows Scheduler.