Please can someone suggest how I can automatically shut down my computer at a preset time. The system is Windows XP Service Pack 2. The need arises because I want to record a programme during my absence using a TV card.

Thank you

Put the shutdown command in a scheduled task.

Use the Task Scheduler to run the following command at the time you want:

shutdown.exe -s -t 30

If a user is logged on, a warning will pop up for 30 seconds before shutting down asking the user to save his/her work. You can change the time to anything you want (in seconds) or 00 for no warning to be shown.

what gamehead said but FYI if your on the machine and need to abort the shutdown during the countdown just open a command prompt and type 'shutdown -a'

Thank you for the quick replies, everyone!