How to automatically shutdown your Windows 7 computer at the same time every day

Many of us leave the computer on all night to receive updates, defrag, and do virus scans. Using this tip will enable you to shut down your computer at a designated time to conserve power, and this is how we do it:

1. Click the Start button and in the search box, type Scheduled tasks
2. Click the item when it appears in the search results list under "Control Panel."
3. In the Task Scheduler console, in the Actions pane on the right, click "Create Basic Task ...".
4. In the Wizard page that opens, give the task a name such as "Shutdown" and write a description (if you want) such as "Shuts down the computer at 1:00 a.m. every day."
   
   Click Next.
5. On the Task Trigger page, select "Daily" and click Next
6. On the Start Date and Time page, fill in the date and time you want to begin (such as 9/7/11 and 12:00 a.m.) and click Next.
7. On the Action page, click "Start a Program" and click Next.
8. On the Start a Program page, in the Program/script field, type:
   
   C:\Windows\System32\shutdown.exe
9. Windows is installed on a drive other than C, substitute that drive letter.
   
   Click Next.  
10. Review the Summary page and click Finish.       

Now Windows will automatically shut down at 12:00 a.m. each day. Just before, a pop-up notification will then display telling you that "Windows will shut down in less than a minute."