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Is there anything such as 'Scheduler' Application?

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IainB:
I just stumbled upon this today. Might be of use/help (I don't have any experience with using the Group Policy Editor, so cannot make any useful comment):
(Copied below sans embedded hyperlinks/images.)
Use Group Policy Editor to Run Scripts When Shutting Down Your PC

Windows: To automate some routine tasks that nobody likes doing during the day, you can use Group Policy Editor to make your PC run a script when you shut it down or log off a user account.

To set up a script to run as soon as you shut down your PC, follow these instructions:

    Open GPE by entering "gpedit.msc" (no quotes) into the Run dialog (Win+R).
    In the left panel, select "Windows Settings" under "Computer Configuration."
    Double-click "Scripts (Startup/Shutdown)" in the right panel.
    Double-click "Shutdown"
    Click "Add..."
    Navigate to the folder containing the script you want to run.
    Click "OK."

You can also use this method to run scripts when logging out of a user profile. This is handy for performing regular maintenance tasks or cleaning up your workspace when you're done, or simply running apps that you don't want running while you're using your machine. Unfortunately, the Group Policy Editor is only available on Professional or Ultimate versions of Windows.

Nifty Way to Automatically Run a Windows Script or Program Whenever You Turn Off the PC | Gizmo's Freeware
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40hz:
There's no harm in using auto shutdown features if you want to. But it depends on the environment you're in. And the type of scan or defrag you're running. A very thorough AV/malware scan can take several hours, even on a fast machine. And a full optimize/defrag cycle can also take a while of it's not done regularly - or if the drive is extremely full. Especially if it involves large and heavily fragmented files. In many such cases, the defrag will usually stall out or simply terminate after doing as much as it could.

Also, in many business environments machines need to be left up in sleep mode since most push updates and system maintenance is performed remotely after hours. So the last thing a sysadmin wants to see is a list of machines that missed a critical update (and now need to be done semi-manually) because they were powered down the night before. Many machines in business settings still don't support wake-on-LAN capabilities.
 :)

MilesAhead:
I also found a Windows port of the Linux cron utility:
fxcron

rjbull:
I just stumbled upon this today. Might be of use/help (I don't have any experience with using the Group Policy Editor, so cannot make any useful comment):-IainB (August 01, 2013, 10:58 AM)
--- End quote ---
By coincidence, Gizmo's article Nifty Way to Automatically Run a Windows Script or Program Whenever You Turn Off the PC on using the Group Policy Editor appeared today, 1st August 2013.

IainB:
^^ Thankyou for that! The Lifehacker link I gave refers to Gizmo.
It's no coincidence. I think (but am not certain) that Gizmo might well have been what referred me to the Lifehacker link I gave - Gizmo is one of the 150+ feeds that I scan, but I don't recall seeing it twice.
Sometimes you get 2 or more links to the same thing, from different blog feeds (usually its the same ones every time). It's like they are "re-tweeting" each other's messages - or maybe they are the same writers but for multiple blogs - though I have heard that some bloggers and journalists use a derogatory scatological technical term for this in the case of news report recasts - it is "t#rd-eating".
I have been up to my ears in baby-sitting and in work related to setting up a company, and I should have given a "hat tip" to Gizmo (or whoever it was), but in my haste and busyness I had lost track of the route (I scan 1,000 or so posts) by which I had arrived at that particular original post.
I was about to ignore the item as being of no interest when I thought "Hang on - isn't that related to what @saurabhdua was asking about in DCF?". Serendipity.

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