iTunes Sleep Timer with Windows 7

For some time i was looking for a way to let my iTunes play Music and shut down the PC after some time. I googled a lot and found some programs, but most of them just offered the basic Shutdown Timer. Just one had automatic volume lowering ... and it did not work.

So how could i pull off the timed shutdown myself more easily? The answer is very easy ...

Create a shortcut that triggers the windows routine shutdown.exe with the delay you wish.

a) create a shortcut: rightclick->new->shortcut

b) type in: shutdown /s /f /t 1200

c) save.

This will trigger a shutdown (/s) that forces all applications, like the running iTunes, to shut down (/f) within 1200 seconds (or 20min). The /t parameter is luckily not limited to any maximum as it was in Windows Vista. So i use /t 2400 and went to sleep with nice tunes in my ears last night :)

You can even tune the shutdown for your own purpose (like hibernation, instead of shutdown) with the following parameters instead of /s:

/l Log off. This cannot be used with /m or /d options.
/s Shutdown the computer.
/r Shutdown and restart the computer.
/g Shutdown and restart the computer. After the system is
rebooted, restart any registered applications.
/h Hibernate the local computer.
Can be used with the /f option.
/e Document the reason for an unexpected shutdown of a computer.

/t xxx Set the time-out period before shutdown to xxx seconds.
The valid range is 0-315360000 (10 years), with a default of 30.
If the timeout period is greater than 0, the /f parameter is
implied.

/c "comment" Comment on the reason for the restart or shutdown.
Maximum of 512 characters allowed.
/f Force running applications to close without forewarning users.
The /f parameter is implied when a value greater than 0 is
specified for the /t parameter.

Call "shutdown.exe /a" to abort the shutdown when you unexpectedly return to your PC.