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Using

Using AllOff Latest Version: 2.1 Size: 476KB Released 10-April-2008

AllOff operates by checking the keyboard and mouse status plus the CPU load once a second and comparing it with a preset threshold. Each time the average CPU load exceeds the preset limit or keyboard and mouse activity occurs the countdown timer is reset until the countdown time is reached 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 see Log Files and for information about configuring AllOff see Configuration.

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 plus the average CPU load on the left of the display. If a key or keys become stuck down AllOff will recognise this and ignore it.

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 when the master program enters shutdown. There is no communication back to the main program. The slave program display shows communications status.

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 CPUOff 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 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.