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Using AllOff Latest Version: 3.2 Size: 506KB Released 14-August-2009

AllOff operates by checking the keyboard/mouse status and/or the CPU load once a second, comparing it with preset thresholds which are configurable. Each time the average CPU load exceeds the preset limit the CPU counter is reset and each time keyboard and mouse activity occurs the Key/Mouse counter is reset until the countdown time is reached for each and shutdown is initiated. The time before the program activates, the period over which the CPU load is averaged and the shutdown time are configurable to suit particular circumstances. The program consumes very little system resources but it does run with high priority. AllOff supports the following types of shut down: Hibernate, Power Off, Reboot, Shutdown and Standby (some computers will not support all shut down modes). Shutdown, Power Off and Reboot have been configured to force all running applications to close. For information about logging including archiving log files see log files and for information about configuring AllOff see configuration.

CPU level detection or Keyboard/Mouse detection can be disabled from the configuration screen. The time before shutdown is initiated is when both the CPU counter and the Key/Mouse counter have reached their preset values. For example if CPU Delay is set to 60 and Key and Mouse Delay is set to 600 the computer will shutdown if there is no keyboard and mouse activity for 600 seconds and the CPU activity is below the threshold for the last 60 seconds of the 600 seconds.

CPU averaging works by adding the CPU load measured every second over the averaging period and dividing it by the averaging period. This does mean that the average load can increase after the instantaneous CPU load has decreased due to previous values. This is especially noticeable with long averaging periods and wide variations in CPU load. If the time the program has been active is less than the averaging period the time active is used as the averaging period.

The main program display shows key and mouse activity in the last second by a 'K' or 'M' respectively when enabled plus the average CPU load when enabled on the left of the display. If a key or keys become stuck down AllOff will recognise this and ignore it. The time to shutdown displayed is the longer of the Keyboard/Mouse and CPU delays.

The optional slave program can be installed on a second computer to monitor communications from the main program, which occur twice a second and initiates shutdown the preset delay after the master program enters shutdown. Communication back to the main program from the slave is indicated to the right of the key and mouse activity indicators. The slave program display shows communications status. See the screen shot for more information.

Click on the Test button to enable Test Mode which sets both the power off delay and the monitoring period to 5 seconds and puts up a pop up rather than powering off the computer. Clicking the Test button while in Test Mode will restart Test Mode. If the AllOff Slave is used clicking Test will also put the Slave into test mode. Click the Reset button to exit Test Mode or Reset the program in Operational Mode (this will also reset the slave program if used).

Program operation is inhibited while either the About or Configuration screens are open. The About screen will automatically time out after 30 seconds if left open. The Configuration screen will automatically time out after 600 seconds if left open, a warning message is given with 90 seconds left.. The program is reset when the configuration screen is closed if any changes have been made, if no changes are made the program will resume from where it was stopped when the configuration screen is closed. The configuration can only be changed by users with administrative privileges. If AllOff is set to run minimised closing the Configuration screen will put the program back in the System Tray. Communications to the Slave, if used, are not inhibited when the configuration screen of the main program is open.

When set to run minimised (the default) AllOff runs in the System Tray, the program can be reactivated by double clicking on the tray icon. Once shutdown is initiated AllOff always switches to visible 'run on top' and the About, Exit, Test and Configuration buttons are disabled. Shutdown can be cancelled by clicking the Cancel button which will put the program back in the System Tray if AllOff is set to run minimised.