OpenHalt main window.
OpenHalt is a small program that functions as a timer to shut down Windows. Simply set a time to halt or reboot the computer (and optionally change some of the settings) and click 'set timer'!
Why make such a simple program? Well, I needed it myself, and I didn't like the GUI that comes with the Windows "shutdown" program. For instance you have to specify the time purely in seconds, you have to write a message, and if you just want to shut down your own computer, you have to choose it as if it was a networked computer. Therefore I made a small program that didn't need so much clicking-around, and I thought I might as well put it online in case others feel the way I did. So, enjoy!
OpenHalt is free open source software (hence the name) and is licensed under the GNU General Public License. This means that you may receive and look at the source code, and you can even change and/or redistribute the program under certain conditions. For these conditions, refer to the license.
OpenHalt may be downloaded from here. Just download the .exe file with the newest version number and run it. It doesn't have to be installed, but if you really want to, you can put it in an appropriate folder and make a shortcut in e.g. the start menu or on the desktop. It requires the .NET framework, but don't worry; if you have a reasonably updated copy of Windows, you already have this installed.
If you want to download the source and compile yourself, you can do so via CVS. You can either use the ViewCVS web interface, or see on this page how to get the source through your ordinary CVS client using anonymous CVS access.
OpenHalt main window.
Using OpenHalt is straight-forward. Simply start the program, adjust the activation time, and click the 'Set timer' button. Then a system window pops up and tells you how much time is left before Windows will be shut down (this is a Windows system window, so don't tell me what needs to be changed about it ;-)
Optionally you can adjust some of the settings before hitting the button. I guess they're rather self-explainatory, so I'll just mention a few.For instance you may want to just reboot the computer instead of shutting it down. In that case you just select that from the 'Action' button group. If you have already initiated a shut down which has not been carried out yet, you can choose to abort it. Also you might want to shut down another computer on the network. To do this you must specify the Windows network name in the appropriate box. Notice that in order to do this you must be authorized to do so.
Bugs: If you have discovered a bug, you can report it via the bug tracking system. Please make sure to explain exactly what you did and what happened.
Feature requests: Ideas for new features or improvement to the existing features may be submitted through the feature request tracker.
OpenHalt SourceForge page |