Using
AllOff |
Latest
Version: 3.5
Size: 596KB
Released
24-August-2010 |
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AllOff operates by checking the keyboard/mouse status and/or the CPU load once a second, comparing
it with preset thresholds which are configurable plus if enabled the fixed shutdown time. 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 optionally force all running
applications to close. For information about logging including archiving and clearing log files see log files and for more 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. Optionally a fixed shutdown time can be specified which takes priority over CPU and Keyboard/Mouse detection.
About & Configuration Screens
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.
CPU Averaging
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.
Fixed Activation & Shutdown Time
Optionally the activation time and shutdown initiation times can be set to a fixed timed based on the 24 hour clock. Clicking on fixed time activation enables the program activation to be set to a fixed time rather than a preset delay after start up. If the reset button is clicked or the program started once the activation time has passed activation will be immediate. Clicking on fixed time shutdown enables program shutdown initiation to be set to a fixed time. This time takes priority over CPU and keyboard/mouse activity timers. If the reset button is clicked once the shutdown time has passed shutdown will be set to the defined time the next day. If the fixed shutdown time is earlier than the fixed activation time then shutdown will be set to the defined time the next day.
If fixed time shutdown is enabled the shutdown, power off and reboot will be forced independently of the state of the force flag for the fixed shutdown time only.
Forced Shutdown
By default forced shutdown is enabled for Power Off, Shut Down and Reboot. Optionally this can be disabled for CPU and Keyboard/Mouse detection by un ticking the Force checkbox. This will have no effect on fixed time shutdown if enabled.
Run Minimised
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.
Slave Program
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. The slave also displays cpu load plus keyboard and mouse activity for the slave. See the screen shot for more information.
Status Display
The main program display shows key, mouse and network activity in the last second by a 'K' , 'M' and 'S' 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.
Test Button
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).
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