Is there anything such as 'Scheduler' Application?

[saurabhdua]

Hello There!

Wonder..Most of the Defrag tools do have an Inbuilt Scheduler that allows one to set  'SHUTDOWN the PC', once the Defrag, or Full Optimization goes Completed!

On the contrary, most of the FREE 'On Demand Virus Scanners'(not aware of the PAID Ones,& considering the time elapse it requires for a FULL System Scan) do not host such a flexibility!!??

Why can't one simply leave the Office by merely Turning OFF the Monitor, & scheduling all such Tasks to be completed in 'Automated' fashion, without getting bothered about a Left ON PC?

For instance, is there a 'Scheduler' concept that can enable me to set 'Complete System Scans' through Super Antispyware, then Malwarebytes Antimalware, & finally a 'Full Disk Optimization' through an Ultra Defrag which will eventually lead to System being SHUT DOWN at the end? 

This kind of a Complete overhaul on a weekly basis can certainly make my Day through a quick touch-up for my Machine!

Inputs will be sincerely appreciated.
Regards from India.

[IainB]

You might find this of use: Advanced Task Scheduler (details below)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

                              Advanced Task Scheduler

/*******************************************************************************/
/* Advanced Task Scheduler - is a multifunctional task scheduler, which allows */
/* launching programs, scripts and batch files, opening documents and Internet */
/* pages, displaying popup messages, playing sounds, sending messages,        */
/* shutting down and restarting computer, stopping running processes,          */
/* establishing and closing Internet connections, - automatically              */
/* at a specified time, repeatedly at a time interval or by a system event.    */
/*******************************************************************************/

Advanced Task Scheduler Features:
• Small and easy to use;
• Several flexible types of scheduling;
• Ability to wake up computer from hibernation/standby before starting a task;
• Automatically starts applications, installs/uninstalls services;
• Displays messages as a popup window, a balloon tip or a transparent window
  near task bar;
• Kills processes and closes windows;
• Automatically establishes and terminates network connections;
• Plays alarm sounds;
• Logoff, restart, shutdown or power off, suspend or hibernate computer;
• Sends e-mail and network messages;
• Sends key sequences to a window;
• Performs FTP and file operations;
• Logs all made automatic starts;
• Can be installed as Windows Service;
• Compatible with all 32 and 64 bit Windows operating systems.

System requirements:
• Software: Advanced Task Scheduler supports the following operating
  systems: Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows
  Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 Desktop.
• Hardware: Advanced Task Scheduler can be run on any computer running
  one of the following operating systems: Windows 2000, Windows XP,
  Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows 7,
  and Windows 8 Desktop.
• To install Advanced Task Scheduler, you will need at least 30 MB
  of free disk space.

Disclaimer:
• Advanced Task Scheduler Copyright © Southsoftware.com,
  2002-2012 (http://www.southsoftware.com/).
• This product includes software developed by the OpenSSL Project
  for use in the OpenSSL Toolkit. (http://www.openssl.org/).
• This product includes cryptographic software written by
  Eric Young (eay@cryptsoft.com).
• This product includes cURL library http://curl.haxx.se/
  created by Daniel Stenberg (http://daniel.haxx.se/).
• This product includes code programmed by INFO-ZIP
  group (http://www.info-zip.org/).
• This product includes "bzip2" by Julian R Seward
  (http://www.bzip.org/).
• This product includes portable Perl Copyright (C)
  by Larry Wall and others (http://www.perl.org/)
• This product includes portable Python Copyright (c)
  Python Software Foundation (http://www.python.org/)

Advanced Task Scheduler (c) Copyright Southsoftware.com, 2002-2012
http://www.southsoftware.com/
http://www.advscheduler.com/

[40hz]

In that you seem to want to run multiple activities in sequence and then shutdown, the shutdown capabilities in each utility may not be usable since they mostly only give you the option to shut down after they've exited.

To get around that, there are a number of tools specifically designed to handle a shutdown ( also: lock, sleep, hibernate and reboot) that can be triggered in a variety of ways - such as when CPU usage drops below a certain threshold.

One good example can be found here, but a quick Google for "shutdown manager" or "shutdown utilities" should give you links to a dozen others worth looking at. The Snapfiles website also has a listing and reviews of this type of software. Look for it here first. Highly recommended.

[rjbull]

Kirby Alarm Pro, but you may need to have the processes you want to control set a flag file and use Kirby Alarm's "Watch File" feature.

@IainB - Kirby Alarm is another fine product from down under 

[saurabhdua]

Dear All!

Thank you very much for the Valuable Inputs! I appreciate!

However, Can anybody demystify the LOGIC of not enabling an 'Auto Shutdown' with AntiMalware Scanners? 'Complete System Scan' should be backed with an Auto Shutdown capability once the Process goes completed & found threats being 'Automatically' Quarantined!...What's the Harm with that!?

Afterall, any kind of a 'Full System Scan' does take around 30-45 mins. to get Completed. On the Contrary, most 'Filthy' of Fragmentation hardly consumes just about 20 Mins. to get "Optimized"! Free Defrag Tools BOASTS of enabling an Auto Shutdown for a User, whereas, one has to randomly Check the Status of a Malware Scan at sporadic Intervals...!

What a Pity....!

[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

[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):

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.