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Buy a mechanical timer and set the BIOS to start up the computer after a power outage. The timer turns on the power to the computer and the BIOS causes it to boot up.
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Enable Wake-On-LAN in your system's hardware config - then do this[^].
/ravi
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Hi,
If you are happy to leave the computer in standby mode then a WaitableTimer can be used to wake it up. There's some example code here on CP A WaitableTimer wrapper class[^].
The simplest way to wake up a sleeping computer, without any programming, is to set a scheduled task with the option "Wake the computer to run this task".
Alan.
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Check your machine's BIOS settings for a timed automatic power on option.
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My Vista laptop surprised me by turning itself on at various "exact" times, until I figured out what was happening. If you go into 'Scheduled Tasks', you can set up a task with various options about power state and action. I've got no idea how to do this programmatically, but you could configure a scheduled task to run your job. The reason I mention Vista is that I don't remember being able to do this in XP. But I might be completely wrong... 
[edit]somehow missed Alan N's post before writing this.  What he said...[/edit]
Software rusts. Simon Stephenson, ca 1994.
modified on Monday, August 23, 2010 8:02 PM
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Something like this[^]? 
Again, look at the BIOS setting of the computer to be sure it will boot when power is detected.
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Do you have another networked computer (anywhere) that can run the application? If so, run the wake-up application on the other computer and then buy an APC remote power switch with Internet connectivity. We use one on our server at a server farm so we can turn it on, turn it off or reboot it remotely if it hangs.
Dave
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There must be some kind of either windows or BIOS API to control power on/off, at least for ATX motherboard based machines - here is a product that uses it (and I have a AV program that will wake the machine up if it happens to be off when it want's to update - nasty if it's a laptop in it's case though!)
http://www.lifsoft.com/[^]
Mike
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It is easy, at least with my Dell Optiplex.
Power on,
press F2 to enter Setup
Go to Power Management
Select Auto Startup
Select EveryDay, or Monday to Friday (default is Off)
Set time you want the system to boot up.
Save and exit Bios.
OK, you asked how to write a program to do it, so this is cheating. But easier.
I came here because I was confused.
Now I'm confused on a higher plane.
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Just an idea: Why not use a the new TI Launchpad board (or any microcontroller board for that matter) and wire it parallel to the on/off switch of your motherboard. Then programm the Launchpad to close and open a port at a specific time. The wiring is extremelly simple to do even with little knowledge, but a lot of care.
We did something similar (shutdown and turn on of a PC through IR receiver and a microcontroller) for a project we had some 10 years back and it was easy even then, so this should be VERY easy now.
PS: I just mention the launchpad because it is very cheap, and also it has a thermometer built in. I can understand that most of us have preferences.
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OK - but what if your computer is not hibernating or in a suspended state: really "off"?
You can buy power supplies that respond to "power on" signals, there are even power supplies that respond to SMS messages. (I had a remote installation near to the North Pole where the power continually failed and the machine had to be rebooted remotely - worked fine, perhaps because it was Linux with no GUI  ).
Why make life more difficult than it is?
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There's usually a setting in the bios to turn on a computer at a specific time.
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Go buy an iBoot its a remotly controllable surge protector/ power supply. Most will run a website but others have a web service like interface you can code to, to do things. Or it may have a scheduling feature, some also can send out heartbeats and do things when they miss a certain number of packets. We used it to automatically reboot the web server when its NIC would crash. yes we replaced the server, only took a day or 3 to get one from dell.
Please remember to rate helpful or unhelpful answers, it lets us and people reading the forums know if our answers are any good.
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Most BIOS's have a feature for turning on the machine at a certain time/date.
"People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid."
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Really? I've never seen that in any of my computers.
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OK, maybe I have then and just never realized what it was. Thanks. This could be useful.
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Nobody's mentioned this hardware solution yet. A great many BIOSes have an option to power the system back on when power is restored. So, if you have a programmable outlet timer (easily purchased at a hardware store) and you know with absolute certainty that the system will always, always, always be off during a certain window before the desired power-on time, that could be an option. Just set the timer to turn off power a few minutes earlier, then turn it on again at your chosen time.
Bingo, you only spent about as much on this as you would on a sandwich or some Starbucks, and you got to visit the hardware store. I'd call that a two-for-one bonus, wouldn't you?
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Assuming you're away from your machine, probably the best you're going to do is have it in hibernation with an alarm to wake it up at the appointed time. If you're accessing the machine remotely, it shouldn't be hard to send it a command to return to hibernation (I'm assuming this - never tried it) when you're done. Or, you can train your cat to push the power button. 
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Does your machine/NIC support Wake on LAN? And do you have another machine on the same LAN that is constantly up and running?
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I know it is possible, as I had a virus do it to a Gateway 509GE I used to have. Every night, even though it was off, shutdown, not in sleep mode, it would turn itself on at a certain time. I fixed it by resetting the bios and completely reformatting the disk. But I don't know how the turning itself on was done.
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Drill a small hole in the bottom of a bucket.
Fill the bucket full of sand.
Let the sand fall out of the bucket onto some scales.
When the scales swing down, this will turn on a switch and turn on a computer.
The computer will turn on a toy car that will drive across the room and hit a second switch.
This will turn on the second computer.
The second computer will then move a robotic arm.
This arm will turn on a switch.
This will turn on the third computer.
The third computer will turn on a magnet.
This will lift a gate and let a ball roll down a track.
The ball will hit a switch at the bottom to the track and turn on the forth computer.
The forth computer will then blow the main fuse as you are using too much electricity!
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But Mark ... this is the C#-forum. I can't see, where you use C# in your solution.
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." (DNA)
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That happens whenever you see the scale/car/arm/ball pound into a switch to start the next computer in the chain.
3x12=36
2x12=24
1x12=12
0x12=18
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High tech Mousetrap; I like it.
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