IDEA: Automate Maintenance Tasks with ScreenSaver

[skywalka]

Hi guys.

It's important to perform certain maintenance tasks on the computer.  eg:
Malware scan
AntiVirus scan
Defraging drives
ACDSee database scan
Double Killer scan http://www.bigbangen....de/en/doublekiller/
Winamp database scan
other scans

The sheduled can be found via the programs GUI or sometimes Windows' Scheduled Tasks while others.  Sometimes the responsibility to scheduled tasks is on the user.

It is annoying if you are using the computer & a scheduled task commences.  It often interferes so the tendency is to stop or pause it (if possible).  If you stop the task it doesn't get done.  If you are able to pause it you have to remember to resume it (something I forget to do) so I end up canceling it anyway.  I don't want tasks like this overlapping.  My harddrive wouldn't enjoy being scanned & fragged at the same time.

But you can run programs (ie tasks) when the computer is idle.  The problem is you can only setup 1 program at a time to run when the computer is idle on the programs I have found:
xCAT - Program Saver v1.10 http://www.xcat-indu...l/software.php?cat=3
Screen Launcher http://www.bartdart.com/
It would be just as easy to run a program manually than constantly change these programs' settings.

A program to manage these settings would be optimum.  It would run a maintenance task when the computer becomes idle.  It would pause the task if the computer is used again & then resume when the computer becomes idle again.  When 1 task has completed it will do another task from the list.

Am I dreaming?  Does this require some heavy duty cross-program integration?  I would have thought this has been tried before.

Thanx 4 looking.

[mouser]

first, some nice freeware at http://www.bartdart.com/, nice find!

now to your request - i really like this idea alot.

here's what i'd like to suggest for the program, which might be named something like Screensaver Proxy.

it should be a .scr screensaver which would let you specify the real screensaver to run when it is triggered, and then a list of additional programs to run, after some optional additional delay.

and when interrupted, if the additional programs are still running it should ask you if you want them closed or not.

so an example:

i configure ScreensaverProxy as my screensaver, and from its options i set DimSaver as the real screensaver to trigger.
then i specify that after 60 seconds it should run "backup.exe -myscript".

the idea being that when the screensaver triggers and stays active for 60 seconds, thats the go ahead to run the script.

one nice extra feature would be if you could set some flag that said "don't run this more than once every x hours", so that you could limit the exampl above to running the backup at most once every 24 hours or so.

neat idea.

[skywalka]

It appears a program doesn't need to be set as a screensaver to run when the computer is idle.  It can be run in addition to the screensaver & after a different period.

That's what the xCAT program above seems to do.

[mouser]

another nice page of freeware there! http://www.xcat-indu...ries.nl/software.php

its certainly true that you can design a program to run on idle in a variety of ways - there might be some advantages to using a screensaver proxy:
1) it would only run when screensaver is running, so there'd never be any mistaken running when you werent noticing it.
2) minimal cpu usage since it would use windows screensaver trigger.

[jgpaiva]

I think there is another thread here at DC asking for a similar screensaver:
https://www.donation...dex.php?topic=3039.0

[lanux128]

skywalka: This might be useful to you. It's an interesting trick figured out by Rajat, resident AHK pro...
Do idle time tasks with custom-made ScreenSavers!

[skywalka]

The main feature of my request was that different scans could be run each time instead of all together or requiring manual alterations.

But thanx for the links lanux128 & jgpaiva.