How to automatically cold boot an unattended computer

[highnote]

Does anyone know of an automatic method to cold boot computer at a certain time?

I usually leave my computer running 24-7. It would be nice if there was a way for it to turn itself back on at 10:00 AM every morning and turn itself off at 2:00 AM.

Turning off is easy. Having it boot up while unattended is the part I don't know how to do.

[vegasone]

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itprogeneral/thread/dedb8e92-2abf-4e71-b3ff-14cecd0166ee/


What are wake timers for with regards to sleep mode?

[GameTheory]

Many BIOSes will let you do this. I actually have mine set to turn itself on every hour (if it is off). That way if it gets shut down for any reason (power loss) it doesn't stay shut down -- when I'm away or out-of-town I need to be able to access it remotely so this is helpful. This is totally independent of the OS.

[bigmack]

I need to be able to access it remotely so this is helpful.
What program do you utilize for remote access?

[highnote]

What program do you utilize for remote access?


I like RealVNC for remote access.

[highnote]

Many BIOSes will let you do this. I actually have mine set to turn itself on every hour (if it is off). That way if it gets shut down for any reason (power loss) it doesn't stay shut down -- when I'm away or out-of-town I need to be able to access it remotely so this is helpful. This is totally independent of the OS.


That is precisely what I am looking to do. I always worry that when I am on vacation I won't be able to collect various bits of data on a daily basis.

I'll check my bios to see if it will do that.

[FiveWide]

What program do you utilize for remote access?


Used to use VNC at work but now Windows' Remote Desktop Connection which I like much better. RDC comes with the OS.


-Five

[vegasone]

What are "Wake on LAN" capabilities?

Sometimes called Remote Wake-up, Wake on LAN is technology that allows someone to turn on a network computer remotely by sending a special data packet (called a Magic Packet). Even if the computer is turned off, the network adapter is still "listening" on the network, so when the special packet arrives, the network adapter can turn on the computer.




This will allow you to turn on the computer only when you need it. Just depends on your needs as to which way you want to go

[GameTheory]

What are "Wake on LAN" capabilities?

Sometimes called Remote Wake-up, Wake on LAN is technology that allows someone to turn on a network computer remotely by sending a special data packet (called a Magic Packet). Even if the computer is turned off, the network adapter is still "listening" on the network, so when the special packet arrives, the network adapter can turn on the computer.




This will allow you to turn on the computer only when you need it. Just depends on your needs as to which way you want to goI spent a lot of time trying, and I've never gotten this to work (you have to get your router to co-operate as well), and is the main reason I set up my machine to turn itself on without anyone asking it to.

For remote access, I use RealVNC most of the time. The Windows RDC works faster, but it blanks out the host (and doesn't put it back after you logout) which causes trouble with what I do, changes the screen size of the host if it doesn't match the guest (which messes up my desktop), doesn't work with multiple monitors, etc. I rarely use it for my main machine, but I do use on virtual machines where it is built-in (and doesn't effect the host because the VM software is actually the host). Services like LogMeIn can also be a good choice because you don't have to know the IP address of the host and it automatically gets around firewalls, no router config needed, etc. I've had the free version installed as a backup even though it annoys me to actually use it just because it makes it fairly foolproof to access your machine as long as it is on. (If only I could get Wake-on-Lan to work.)

[highnote]

Just being able to have my computer reboot after a power failure is good enough. I changed my bios setting. I unplugged my computer while it was running, waited a few seconds and then plugged it back in and it rebooted.

Before I changed the setting the computer would have remained off.

Now I need to change some of the settings in the Scheduled Tasks to start and stop certain programs once per hour. So at most, I'll only lose an hour's worth of data collection time -- assuming the power outage is shorter than an hour.

As it is now, I'd only lose a days worth of data collection time. That's better than the way I had it set up. I could have lost up to two week's worth if I was away on vacation and lost power on the first day of vacation!

[JustRalph]

I have never seen "wake on lan" work in a gazillion tries..........

[PaceAdvantage]

I unplugged my computer while it was running,Please tell me you didn't...that's the worst possible thing you can do...short of pouring a pitcher of water into the air vents...

[vegasone]

Wake on LAN will only work with compatible cards or onboard chips that have that capability, as well as motherboards that support the feature. The BIOS would also need to be changed....It is used by network administrators on servers that will usually have that capability. May need to add a card with that capability, the cheap ones won't have it.

The router would have to be set up to forward the request also probably.

This explanation sounds pretty complicated to make it work , but it does work if done right(per internet). Haven't tried it.

Subnet directed broadcasts

A principal limitation of standard broadcast Wake-On-LAN is that broadcast packets are generally not routed. This prevents the technique being used in larger networks or over the internet. Subnet Directed Broadcasts (SDB)[8] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN#cite_note-7)[9] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN#cite_note-8) may be used to overcome this limitation. SDB may require changes to intermediate router configuration. Subnet directed broadcasts are treated as normal network packets until processed by the final (local) router. This router converts the packet into a true broadcast packet. This technique allows a broadcast to be initiated on a remote network but requires all intervening routers to forward the SDB.[10] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN#cite_note-9)[11] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN#cite_note-10) When preparing a network to forward SDB packets, care must be taken to filter such that only desired (e.g. WoL) SDB packets are permitted—otherwise the network becomes a participant in DDoS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDoS) attacks such as the Smurf Attack (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smurf_Attack).

[GameTheory]

Wake on LAN will only work with compatible cards or onboard chips that have that capability, as well as motherboards that support the feature. The BIOS would also need to be changed....It is used by network administrators on servers that will usually have that capability. May need to add a card with that capability, the cheap ones won't have it.

The router would have to be set up to forward the request also probably.

This explanation sounds pretty complicated to make it work , but it does work if done right(per internet). Haven't tried it.

Subnet directed broadcasts

A principal limitation of standard broadcast Wake-On-LAN is that broadcast packets are generally not routed. This prevents the technique being used in larger networks or over the internet. Subnet Directed Broadcasts (SDB)[8] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN#cite_note-7)[9] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN#cite_note-8) may be used to overcome this limitation. SDB may require changes to intermediate router configuration. Subnet directed broadcasts are treated as normal network packets until processed by the final (local) router. This router converts the packet into a true broadcast packet. This technique allows a broadcast to be initiated on a remote network but requires all intervening routers to forward the SDB.[10] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN#cite_note-9)[11] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN#cite_note-10) When preparing a network to forward SDB packets, care must be taken to filter such that only desired (e.g. WoL) SDB packets are permitted—otherwise the network becomes a participant in DDoS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDoS) attacks such as the Smurf Attack (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smurf_Attack).
My BIOS supports it. The case my machine is in and my power supply supports it (provides soft power). My router supports it -- I can login to the router and supposedly send a WOL magic packet to a connected machine. Still doesn't work. I wonder what the secret is.

[headhawg]

GT,

You might find a solution here: WOL Help (http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2007/02/remotely-waking-up-your-pc.html)

Although, isn't the Magic Packet a broadcast? Routers block broadcasts so I am not sure if this can be done over the Internet even with port forwarding enabled. There might be a configuration setting on the router.

HH

[GameTheory]

GT,

You might find a solution here: WOL Help (http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2007/02/remotely-waking-up-your-pc.html)

Although, isn't the Magic Packet a broadcast? Routers block broadcasts so I am not sure if this can be done over the Internet even with port forwarding enabled. There might be a configuration setting on the router.

HHI've been over all the "solutions". Not ready to go waste my time on that again, just saying. As far as the router, I'm using a special function on the router who's sole purpose is to active WOL. I'm logged into the router from another machine on the same network. If I can get in-house WOL working, then I'll move on to the outside world. But not today. My need for it is not great anyway...