How to Use Scheduled Tasks

Windows has a good feature called Scheduled Task, which let user execute the specified task to execute daily, weekly, monthly, at the specified time. 


You can automate your different time consuming tasks on the times when you are not using your computer, such as disk cleanup, disk fragmentation, any many more. 


Follow below steps to use the create new scheduled task, steps are explained from the windows XP prespective.  

1. Open Control Panel from Start Menu or typing Control in the Run window.
2. Under Category View  of control panel select "Performance and Maintenance". If your control panel view is classic then you will directly find "Scheduled Tasks" folder like icon.
3. Under Scheduled Tasks, right click then Select New ->Scheduled Tasks.
4. Specify the Name for the New Task. Then right click the newly created task.
5. Select Properties.  This will show the properties window for the new schedule task. 

6. Under Run specify the executable you want to run as your schedule task. This can be any exe, batch file(.bat) or a script that you want to execute. 
7. In front of  "Run as: " provide the user name and valid password of the user, under this user context the schedule task will execute.

8. On Schedule tab, provide when, how frequently you want to execute the task.
9. Now press Apply then OK. Now your task is ready to execute at specified date time.

Modifying System Startup: To load selective startup

If your windows operating system is booting/running slow, then more number of unwanted program loading at startup might be one of the reason behind this.


You can load the selective startup, so that required programs only get loaded. Follow below steps to do this. 


Caution: Be sure that which programs you are going to remove from startup, because if you de-select programs such as device driver or any of the required services then the operating system might not function correctly.
  
1. Click Start, select Run.
2. Type msconfig. Click OK. This will launch dialog as below. 

3. Under startup selection click on Selective Startup.
4. Then Select Startup tab.

5. There you will find the programs that are going to be loaded at startup. 
6. By unselecting them, they will not load during startup.
7. Click Apply then OK.
8. It will show message box as below.

 9. Here click restart if you want to restart. 

Launching any application just a key away

Using keyboards with lots of keyboards short know makes life more easier in day to day life. Also if you have shortcut keys to launch an application it helps a lot.

Today I am going to tell you a simple technique that many people might be knowing but might not be using fully.

You can launch any application from anywhere just by pressing some key combinations. To do this you have to do following things:

1. Create a shortcut of any application on the desktop. You can do this by Right Click on application icon, under “Send To” select Desktop( create shortcut).
2. Now come back to your desktop.
3. Select the shortcut icon created in step 1.
4. Right Click -> Select Properties.
5. On properties dialog you will find Shortcut Tab.
6. On Shortcut Tab, click in front of Shortcut Key textbox.
7. Now Press any key you want to be your shortcut for this application.
8. By default it will show you Ctrl + Alt .
9. Now Ctrl + Alt + < pressed key> becomes your shortcut key for launching your application.

Using this technique you will end up having many shortcuts on desktop. If you don't want your desktop to be cluttered, you can just right click on desktop and uncheck "Show Desktop Icons" option under Arrange Icons By" menu.

Note: If you are using some application which uses the same shortcut key then your application may not launch. In such situations. Minimize the application that you are currently using then press the shortcut key combination.