If you use the Microsoft Windows XP’s Hibernation feature on your laptop or desktop to put your system to sleep at the end of the day rather than turning it off, you can schedule your system to “wake up” in the morning. Using the Scheduled Task Wizard, your machine will be ready and waiting for you just as if you left it on all night.Here’s how to set up this schedule:

1.     Go to Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Scheduled Tasks (Figure A).

Figure A

Open Scheduled Tasks.

2.     Launch the Scheduled Task Wizard by double-clicking Add Scheduled Task (Figure B).

Figure B

Add Scheduled Task.

3.     Click Next and select the program that you want to start when your system wakes up (Figure C). Click Next again.

Figure C

Select a program.

4.     In the following three screens, select the Daily option (Figure D), the time that you want your system to wake up, and then type a username and password with Administrative privileges.

Figure D

Select the Daily option.

5.     On the last page, select the Open Advanced Properties For This Task When I Click Finish check box and click Finish (Figure E).

Figure E

Select the Advanced Properties option.

6.     When you see the Properties dialog box for the scheduled task, choose the Settings tab and select the Wake The Computer To Run This Task check box (Figure F).

Figure F

Wake the computer.

7.     Click OK.

Now your computer will be ready and waiting for you each morning.

Note: This tip applies to both Home and Professional editions.