Have you ever left your computer on, only to then realize that you won’t be able to get back to it for another few hours? Well, I have to admit that I have this stupid habit.
And so it became very important to me to find a way to turn off my computer even when I was away. I don’t want to rely on third party software. I decided to use a tool that is always open on my computer.
We know that Windows uses Shutdown.exe to shut down our computer. We have also learned that MS Outlook can launch applications when receiving emails and verifying rules. Let’s see how we can use this Outlook capability to trigger shutdown.
Note: Outlook must be installed (and up and running) on your computer. It must also be connected to the internet for the desktop email client to be ready to receive emails and trigger the shutdown process.
Step 1: Create a .bat file. First create a text file and then save it as .bat. Remember the save location.
Step 2: Before you close the file, put this in there: %systemroot%\system32\shutdown.exe -s -t 0. Also shown in the figure below. Save and close the file.
Step 3: Now open MS Outlook. Below Home page tab, go to Rule and expand the menu. Select Manage rules and alerts.
Step 4: Above Rules and Warnings chicken window on New rules while under Email rules navigation.
Step 5: Start by choosing your template as Apply the rule to the messages I receive. Click Next.
Step 6: This is the most important step because it determines which rule will be applied. You can have your own conditions but my recommendation is to combine multiple conditions to limit unexpected shutdowns.
Step 6 (a): Choose the following rules. For me there is a reason for each:
- via specified account– If you have multiple email ids configured with MS Outlook, you must select the account to which the rule applies.
- send me only– The motive is to restrict email rule triggers based on the recipient list.
- with specific words in the subject – Another constraint for better defined email reception.
- with specific words in the body – Sometimes, just the subject can be ambiguous. So a body makes it more subtle.
- only on this computer– If you have Outlook configured with the same email address on multiple machines, you must be careful with which machine you want the rule to be applied to.
Step 6(b): Once you have selected the conditions to specify the content by clicking on each of those links in the second half of the window. Here is my sample:-
Step 6(c): Back in the main window, verify that you have linked all the conditions. Then click Next.
Step 7: Next is the action to be applied when the email is received and all the conditions match. Select start app And delete.
The action for the application to start will do your job. However, if you don’t delete it, the rule can be applied over and over when you open Outlook, resulting in a loop.
Step 7(a): To initiate the application action, click the link and select the file you created at the beginning of the tutorial. Click Next.
Step 8: I don’t think you’re asking for any exceptions here. So ignore this window and click Next.
Step 9: Name the rule for future reference, enable the rule and click Complete.
Step 10: That’s it. You are done. You can now shutdown the computer remotely.
Enable remote shutdown
When you want to shut down the remote desktop, simply create a new message with the appropriate subject and body (as defined in the rules’ conditions) and send it to the account that applies the rule. If Outlook is active and it receives mail, your computer is turned off.
Important
You think you’re done? Not yet. With all this effort, the computer will shut down when it receives a matching email from any email account worldwide.
So go back to Step 6(a) and choose one for the condition from specific people or groups. Map it to the account you’ll use to email that Shutdown trigger.
If you like this trick, try making similar ones to restart, log out and hibernate your computer. Let us know how it works.
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Top image credits: free pictures & art
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
