Auto-mouse click application to wake up computer to a time schedule

[Legoman]

Looking for advice or suggestion of a way to automatically wake up a computer at a certain time of day each day without being at the computer or requiring remote intervention. A single mouse click or keyboard press will be enough just to wake the computer from a power saving mode.

Application is a computer being used as a media centre PC that spends most time in power save mode, but needs to wake in the evenings to be be used for streaming video to a smart TV over network. The power save modes auto-switch as required, but when changing from balanced to high performance for the evenings, this doesn't actually wake the computer. Once awoken in high performance power save mode, it will stay awake constantly until the power save mode switches back to power saving or balanced again which is fine, but what I need is something to auto-wake the computer up from sleep mode.

Something super-small and lightweight or even better if built-in task manager can be used to do this?

All advice greatly appreciated.

[BamSec1]

No idea if this also works for Win11, but it does on my Win10 lappy.

The sleep settings let you choose when your computer should go to sleep and, if you want, when it should automatically wake up.

go to Start and select Settings > System > Power & Sleep. Under “Screen”, adjust how many minutes you want your device to wait before turning off the screen when not in use. Under “Sleep”, select how long you want the device to wait before going to sleep when not in use.

To create wake times:
Go to "Sleep" and click on "Allow Wake Timers".
Now you can set up and modify events and times when you want your computer to automatically wake up.

For Win 7
Setting a Wake Time:

1. Create a scheduled task by typing "Task Scheduler" (without quotes) into the Start Menu and press [Enter]
2. In the Task Scheduler window, click on "Create Task"
3. Name the task whatever you like
4. Select one of the 2 options "Run only when..." or "Run whether user..."
5. ☑ Run with highest privileges
6. On "Triggers" tab, create new trigger that runs the task at the time you want (can be a repeating or a single time schedule, example once, daily, ...).
7. On "Conditions" tab, ☑ Wake the computer to run this task option
8. On "Actions" tab, set minimum one action for the task: you can set the task to start a program or, if you want to wake your PC without running a program, you can set it to run cmd.exe with /c exit. This will open a Command prompt and close it immediately without running a program.
9. Now [Save] your task.

Enable Wake Timers:
Now you need  to be sure "Wake Timers" are enabled in Windows...

1. Go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Power Options.
2. Click "Change plan settings" for the current power plan
3. Click "Change advanced power settings"
4. Expand the "Sleep" section
5. Expand the "Allow wake timers" section, and ensure it's set to "Enable".

Hope this works for you.

[Legoman]

Sadly, it hasn't worked. Don't know why. Followed instructions to the letter, but computer did not wake up at scheduled change of power setting to high performance.

[BamSec1]

@Legoman I think I read somewhere you're on Win7, right?

If so, did you not forget, in General tab, to check-mark ☑ "Run with highest privileges" and select the correct "Configure for:",

and on the "Conditions" tab, you have to check-mark ☑ "Wake the computer to run this task" option?

Double check if the Task Scheduler is enabled:

1. Start Menu
2. Press the right mouse buttons when on "Computer" and select "Manage"
3. In Computer Management select "Services and Applications"
4. In Services and Applications, click on "Services"
5. Slide down and check if "Task Scheduler" is running.

Under Startup Type, check if it is set to "Automatic".

If not, double click and change it.

[Legoman]

9 hours ago, BamSec1 said:

@Legoman I think I read somewhere you're on Win7, right?

If so, did you not forget, in General tab, to check-mark ☑ "Run with highest privileges" and select the correct "Configure for:",

and on the "Conditions" tab, you have to check-mark ☑ "Wake the computer to run this task" option?

Double check if the Task Scheduler is enabled:

1. Start Menu
2. Press the right mouse buttons when on "Computer" and select "Manage"
3. In Computer Management select "Services and Applications"
4. In Services and Applications, click on "Services"
5. Slide down and check if "Task Scheduler" is running.

Under Startup Type, check if it is set to "Automatic".

If not, double click and change it.

Winborg 7 correct.

Did the highest priviledge yes and gave it the user password (blank) - there is none

Configure for W7 yes

Wake computer for user whether logged in or not, yes

Hadn't checked to see if Task Manager was running, but have done so now and yes it is set to default as Automatic and has started. So I still have no idea why it won't wake up automatically

[BamSec1]

1 hour ago, Legoman said:

So I still have no idea why it won't wake up automatically

Oh gosh! I'm on Win7 Ultimate x64 Service Pack I on my old PC, and it started up.

I tested it twice to start on 2 different times after setting it to sleep. Both times it started up, once set to load Total Commander, and once with the cmd.exe /c exit to only wake up.

I'm sorry! Hope someone else has an idea that might help you.

BTW, I will send you a PM as there is a problem with something else.

[Legoman]

29 minutes ago, BamSec1 said:

I tested it twice to start on 2 different times after setting it to sleep. Both times it started up, once set to load Total Commander, and once with the cmd.exe /c exit to only wake up.

Maybe I need to give it something more substantive to do than just change the power setting to high performance?

[Legoman]

I am making progress and getting closer to a solution. I sat and watched the computer as the time approached for it to autostart and change the power setting to high performance. This all happened as expected and I was delighted. until 5 minutes later when the computer went back to sleep again.

With about 30secs to go before the wake up time in scheduler, the computer woke up automatically and the power setting was changed to high performance. High Performance in this instance means 15min to screen off and HDD never off. When the computer woke up the screen did not come on. I did not touch the mouse or keyboard. When I went back 5 minutes later to check the computer was still running, it was not. Blue activity lights were all off and there was no HDD movement. Then I clicked a mouse button and it woke up again and the screen came on. I checked the power setting and it was indeed set to High Performance as it should be, so why did the computer go back to sleep again after waking up and changing the power setting to high performance?

[Legoman]

Anybody got any suggestions as to what I can get the computer to do which is small, simple and innocuous, automatically via task scheduler that will be just enough activity to stop the computer going back to sleep after it wakes up and changes the power setting to high performance? Apparently changing the power setting isn't enough activity to make the computer stay awake. Either that, or the wake up command is being executed BEFORE the power setting is changed to high performance and therefore not being recognized as the current setting which allows the computer to go back to sleep again.

[BamSec1]

@Legoman Did you, under [Settings], uncheck the

1. Stop the task if it runs longer than:
2. If the running task does not end when requested, force it to stop.

By default they are both check-marked ☑

 

[uk666]

This should work because BamSec1, first-rate solution. But can you just check/try that you have followed the following:

In the Task Scheduler Window Check the Boxes for Run whether user is logged on or not, and Run with highest privileges. In the Configure for drop-down menu, select Windows 10 or whichever version of Windows you currently running.

In the Task Scheduler window Check the Boxes for Run whether user is logged on or not, and Run with highest privileges. In the Configure for drop-down menu, select Windows 10 or whichever version of Windows you currently running.

 

From here, go to the Triggers tab and click New… to specify the conditions that’ll trigger your task.

On the Begin the task drop-down menu, select On a schedule so that the task begins on a schedule. From here, check the Daily box to configure the trigger to run daily. In the Start section, set the date and time when you’d like your task to start. Click OK to continue.

 

The Task Scheduler requires you to create at least one action to take place when your PC wakes. You can create a simple action like running the Snipping Tool or any app of your choice. To do this, go to the Actions tab and click New... to specify the action that’ll occur when your task starts.

In the window that pops up, select Start a program in the Action: drop-down menu. Click the Browse button to look for an app that you'd like to run when your PC wakes, and click OK to continue. In this example, we chose the Snipping Tool.

 

Go to the Conditions Tab. Here, you need to check the Wake the computer to run this Task box and uncheck all the other options. Click OK to continue.

 

The final step is to ensure that your power plan is Balanced Power and is configured to allow Wake Timers. If this setting is Disabled, your Scheduled Task won’t work.

To configure this, open the Control Panel by typing Control Panel in the Start menu search bar and selecting the Best Match.

From here, navigate to Hardware and Sound > Power Options > Change Plan Settings > Change advanced power settings

 

In the Advanced power settings, navigate to Sleep > Allow wake timers. Select Enable for both the On battery and Plugged in options. Click Apply and then click OK. From here, you can put your PC to sleep, and it’ll auto-wake according to the time you’ve set.

 

Try:

WakeupOnStandBy

This free simple utility will let you do it. Besides that, it can also send your system back into a sleep mode (hibernate it, power it off, or log-off a user). Moreover, you can also use this utility as a scheduler to do your tasks without involving a sleep mode.

Download:

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[Legoman]

On 1/27/2023 at 6:01 PM, uk666 said:

This should work because BamSec1, first-rate solution. But can you just check/try that you have followed the following:

In the Task Scheduler Window Check the Boxes for Run whether user is logged on or not, and Run with highest privileges. In the Configure for drop-down menu, select Windows 10 or whichever version of Windows you currently running.

Yes. Checked and done all this. Only variation being that I am Windows 7 here, so there is no option for Windows 10 etc. in my version. Windows 7 is the highest it goes.

From here, go to the Triggers tab and click New… to specify the conditions that’ll trigger your task.

On the Begin the task drop-down menu, select On a schedule so that the task begins on a schedule. From here, check the Daily box to configure the trigger to run daily. In the Start section, set the date and time when you’d like your task to start. Click OK to continue.

Confirmed. In my case it is On a schedule, Daily and at 04:00:00 PM every day, same as you've got in your screenshot.

The Task Scheduler requires you to create at least one action to take place when your PC wakes. You can create a simple action like running the Snipping Tool or any app of your choice. To do this, go to the Actions tab and click New... to specify the action that’ll occur when your task starts.

In the window that pops up, select Start a program in the Action: drop-down menu. Click the Browse button to look for an app that you'd like to run when your PC wakes, and click OK to continue. In this example, we chose the Snipping Tool.

In my case I've got the action being Start a program and the program script is powercfg. Then I've got in the arguments section: /setactive 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c and I can confirm this is working. The power configuration setting does change as specified by that hex address code.

Go to the Conditions Tab. Here, you need to check the Wake the computer to run this Task box and uncheck all the other options. Click OK to continue.

Checked and confirmed. The only active checkbox is the Wake computer to run this task.

The final step is to ensure that your power plan is Balanced Power and is configured to allow Wake Timers. If this setting is Disabled, your Scheduled Task won’t work.

To configure this, open the Control Panel by typing Control Panel in the Start menu search bar and selecting the Best Match.

From here, navigate to Hardware and Sound > Power Options > Change Plan Settings > Change advanced power settings

Checked and confirmed. I have wake timers enabled on all three power configuration settings. This is a desktop PC though with no battery backup. It only runs on AC power, there is no battery option.

Here's the weird thing… following Bam's advice too, if I uncheck both

1. Stop the task if it runs longer than:
2. If the running task does not end when requested, force it to stop.

for the problematic task to occur at 4pm everyday, then the computer never goes to sleep and runs full noise all the time even when the power config DOES change to balanced and power saving modes at other times in the 24hrs and those settings tell the computer to go to sleep after certain durations of inactivity.

If however, I only uncheck 2. If the running task does not end when requested, force it to stop. but leave 1. Stop the task if it runs longer than: checked, then I'm back where I started with a computer that wakes up, changes the power setting to full noise and then goes back to sleep again.

Frankly, I'm over it now. I do not believe it's possible to get task scheduler in Windows 7 to work the way I need it to without third part applications to make it wake up by replicating human intervention. I will try the WakeupOnStandby app instead and see if that finally makes the computer do what I need it to.

 

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Edited January 28, 2023 by Legoman

[uk666]

The issue could be with the Power Options. 

This time I have included pictures and options for Windows 7 only, which should make it easier to follow.

Go to Control Panel. By default, the Control Panel settings are grouped by Category. From the Category view, click “System and Security”.

Then, click “Power Options” on the System and Security screen.

On the Choose or customize a power plan screen, click the “Change plan settings” link to the right of the currently selected power plan (either Balanced or Power saver).

NOTE: You can change the Hybrid Sleep option for either one or both of the power plans. The steps are the same for both.

For Windows 7, this screen is called “Select a power plan”, but the options are the same.

 

On the Change plan settings screen, click the “Change advanced power settings” link.

On the Power Options dialog box, click the “Change settings that are currently unavailable” link.

 

Click the plus sign next to Sleep to expand the Options, if they are not already expanded. Click the plus sign next to Allow Hybrid Sleep. Select “Off” from one or both of the drop-down lists under the Allow Hybrid Sleep heading.

NOTE: You can also double-click on a heading to expand it.

 

By default, Windows requires a Password to access the computer when you Wake it up from a power saving state. You must turn this option Off.  You can use the Power Options dialog box to turn this Off. 

The first heading in the list box is the name of the power plan chosen in the drop-down list above the list box. Click the plus sign (or double-click on the heading) to expand the heading and select “Off” from one or both of the drop-down lists under the heading.

 

Note: 
Put the computer to sleep using the Sleep option instead of Shutting it down. The computer won’t wake up if it’s not in Sleep mode.

[Legoman]

14 hours ago, uk666 said:

The issue could be with the Power Options. 

Go to Control Panel. By default, the Control Panel settings are grouped by Category. From the Category view, click “System and Security”.

Then, click “Power Options” on the System and Security screen.

On the Choose or customize a power plan screen, click the “Change plan settings” link to the right of the currently selected power plan (either Balanced or Power saver).

NOTE: You can change the Hybrid Sleep option for either one or both of the power plans. The steps are the same for both.

I've killed all the three plans' Hybrid Sleep options. What the hell is Hybrid Sleep anyway? They were all set to ON, now they're OFF.

My version of W7 is an ultimate custom version, so all these newbie nonsense 'hide features I don't understand' steps are not included. Everything is wide open from the getgo - all options visible all the time, no passwords required, no options disabled by system administrator.

By default, Windows requires a Password to access the computer when you Wake it up from a power saving state. You must turn this option Off.  You can use the Power Options dialog box to turn this Off. 

That has been disabled

Put the computer to sleep using the Sleep option instead of Shutting it down. The computer won’t wake up if it’s not in Sleep mode.

I don't actually put the computer to sleep manually, I just let it do that automatically. My aim is to make the computer do what I need it to completely automatically without any user activity at all, but this is proving a lot harder than it should be.

 

[BamSec1]

17 hours ago, Legoman said:

Frankly, I'm over it now. I do not believe it's possible to get task scheduler in Windows 7 to work the way I need it to without third part applications to make it wake up by replicating human intervention. I will try the WakeupOnStandby app instead and see if that finally makes the computer do what I need it to.

I am very sorry for you, Legoman. ?
As I mentioned before, it works fine on my old PC.

And what means your last post? It's part duplication of a from uk666 without any comment!

[Legoman]

8 minutes ago, BamSec1 said:

And what means your last post? It's part duplication of a from uk666 without any comment!

Responses interlaced in quoted text and coloured yellow where relevent.

[uk666]

10 hours ago, BamSec1 said:

As I mentioned before, it works fine on my old PC.

This solution works for BamSec1 on his Windows 7 and he knows what he’s talking about. So, it’s hard to understand why It not working on your computer.

I think the only option you have is WakeupOnStandBy software.

[BamSec1]

7 hours ago, uk666 said:

This solution works for BamSec1 on his Windows 7

Yes it is. And now I start to believe why it is not working on Legoman's PC:

18 hours ago, Legoman said:

My version of W7 is an ultimate custom version

Maybe that's the problem. My version is an original, not customized version of Win7 Ultimate with Service Pack I.

I NEVER allowed any updates (disabled it at installation) and waited until a Service Pack was released to update it... and there was only 1.

And also this: I must put it to sleep first as I also disabled the settings to let the PC go into sleep/hybrid mode.

 

On a site note:

17 hours ago, Legoman said:

Responses interlaced in quoted text and coloured yellow where relevent.

Please, don't use the yellow colour over a white background (Default IPS Theme) to show your replies. For colourblind members it is very difficult, or not possible at all, to read.

That's why I thought it was part of the OP. - Now you all know I'm colourblind.
Strange fact, they say colourblind people have problems with the red colour, well I don't... only grey, green, light brown (and similar colours), are a problem for me

Best is to colour your replies in red or blue, and best of all is then to also show them in italic!

Yellow on white background = Can't read it unless I select the text.

Red, blue, or other, more contrasting colour = No problem to read, except if dark blue text is used as it doesn't contrast much with the original black coloured text.

 

 

 

[Legoman]

Could be. My version of W7 is slipstream updated and repacked including all updates up to Jan 2021 and from there has all phone-home, auto-updating disabled. I rather suspect it's more of a hardware issue though. There might be a BIOS setting that is putting the computer back to sleep rather than purely Windows doing it. I really don't know. I've now tested disabling the hybrid sleep option too and that hasn't worked either. It makes no difference, the computer still wakes up, switches the power option to high performance and then goes back to sleep (against the instruction of the high performance mode it has just set).

As far as colours are concerned, it is a bit meaningless to talk about "original" colours in an era of dark mode and on a forum which has so many customisable themes built in to it that everyone can make it look how they want it to. I'm using Twilight theme here and there are no white backgrounds at all, so for me, yellow text is the biggest contrast I could find against a dark blue background. Andr for me has always been a black or very dark theme'd forum from way back in the early days on the original board before this iteration and so that has stuck with me. I always think of Andr as being the dark forum and so even in this new version, I try to replicate that original look as closely as possible. A light/white Andr isn't Andr to me.

[BamSec1]

2 hours ago, Legoman said:

I'm using Twilight theme here and there are no white backgrounds at all, so for me, yellow text is the biggest contrast I could find against a dark blue background.

You are totally right, Legoman. I didn't think about that at all when typing my previous reply. You see, nobody is perfect!

I often change from one theme to an other myself and should have known better than commenting about it!

Themes I used the most are IPS Default (only to check if it works as it is the Default theme for most members) to Forum-Andr.net, BlueBoh (also a dark theme), Ivy League, Soft Blue and... Twilight. Yes, me too I often use Twilight because dark colours are softer to the eyes.

So, my best advice would be to type replies in italics.

[uk666]

The way I see it, can be one of two things:

1. Your version of Windows 7, is not allowing modifies.
2. You have a virus on your PC and the virus is not allowing modifies.

We can’t really do much with number one, other than change the Windows 7 to an unmodified version.

I would recommend that you run an online antivirus scan and download a free version of Malwarebytes and do scan of your PC.

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[Legoman]

16 hours ago, uk666 said:

The way I see it, can be one of two things:

1. Your version of Windows 7, is not allowing modifies.

Possible I guess, but I think doubtful. Winborg's approach is all about allowing more user customisation, not preventing it. It is not a mod designed for newbies or casual users, it is designed for people who already know what they're doing and just want to be left alone and not be constrained by what Microsoft thinks is good for them.

16 hours ago, uk666 said:

The way I see it, can be one of two things:

1. You have a virus on your PC and the virus is not allowing modifies.

I would recommend that you run an online antivirus scan and download a free version of Malwarebytes and do scan of your PC.

Just installed Malwarebytes Premium 4.3.0 and scanned computer. It did find 10 supposed threats, but I recognise all of them as being the patch files necessary for all the software on the computer which is essential for it to run and they are not viruses or malware exploits. Two of them are the hosts file modifications required for Malwarebytes Premium itself in fact.

Now that said, there is some good news to report. I installed WakeupOnStandBy yesterday and configured it to activate 1 minute after the wake up command from task scheduler that switches the power option mode to High Performance, and then to just simply wait for 4 minutes keeping the computer awake (without screen switch on) for that duration and then stop. This appears to work. If this proves to be reliable and consistent, then it's the solution I've been looking for because it starts the computer up without even activating the screen, which is ideal for what I need. I'll see if it performs the same today at the same time, but so far it's looking good.

[BamSec1]

2 hours ago, Legoman said:

I'll see if it performs the same today at the same time, but so far it's looking good.

Please, let us know as we, and especially uk666, spent time for you to find a solution.

Glad it worked so far, and I sincerely hope (fingers crossed) that it will work for you.

[Legoman]

4 hours ago, BamSec1 said:

Please, let us know as we, and especially uk666, spent time for you to find a solution.

Glad it worked so far, and I sincerely hope (fingers crossed) that it will work for you.

I will let the thread know when I'm sure it works reliably, reproducibly and predictably. Unfortunately that won't be today because one of the great side effects of installing Malwarebytes to scan your system is that it completely takes over all your network settings and homegroup shared settings you've spent hours getting right so that you can stream video to your TVs. It does this without warning and without notification, such that all your settings are completely destroyed, because in Malwarebytes' logic, if you want to be protected from Malware, you'll need to be disconnected from everything!

The logic is sound, if you pull the blue cable out of your computer, you'll be 100% protected from malware. That much is certain. Also certain is that you won't be able to use your computer for much at all and it becomes completely useless, so there's that too.

It's just taken me a good hour to reconfigure all my network settings back to something approximating what they were before Malwarebytes destroyed them all, and that hour was the same hour where the computer was going to turn itself on automatically and become the video server for the evening. I'll test it again tomorrow.

Edited January 31, 2023 by Legoman

[BamSec1]

12 hours ago, Legoman said:

Possible I guess, but I think doubtful. Winborg's approach is all about allowing more user customisation, not preventing it.

Whatever you think, the problem you're having could very well be what uk666 and I said before. Your Win7 version doesn't allow some changes.

Open your "Control Panel>All Control Panel Items>Windows Update>Change Settings" and check, right under [Choose how Windows can install updates], if you don't have the message [Some settings are managed by your system Administrator]. If that is the case, then forget about adapting many of the system settings!

7 hours ago, Legoman said:

Unfortunately that won't be today because one of the great side effects of installing Malwarebytes to scan your system is that it completely takes over all your network settings and homegroup shared settings you've spent hours getting right so that you can stream video to your TVs.

OMG! I also have Malwarebytes installed and never had it remove something without my consent.

As you said yourself: "It did find 10 supposed threats, but I recognise all of them as being the patch files necessary for all the software on the computer which is essential for it to run and they are not viruses or malware exploits." which means you could have prevent changes to be done by MWB.

I'm out of here as I have other things to do today. BTW, This thread reminds me more and more of bluescope!