Software Task Scheduler, Timer and Alarm

[Bones]

I went looking for a software timer and alarm to provide some more sophisticated options for battery and charger testing and monitoring purposes.

Thus far, the one I like best is the Kirby Alarm, which is available in both a freeware and professional version.

Author's description of the freeware version:

Kirby Alarm is a completely free alarm and task scheduler that will pop up a note, run a program, play a sound, or send an e-mail at user-defined intervals. Various options are available for setting alarms and programs to run every x minutes/hours/days/months/years, or the last Friday of the month, or the last day in the month, for example. A unique feature helps you not skip alarms, and conditional execution of an alarm can be based on the Watch File feature.

Author's description of the professional version:

Kirby Alarm Pro is an easy to use alarm clock/reminder and task scheduler that will display a note, run a program, play a sound,or send an email, execute a backup, transfer a file by ftp, say time, or say message at user defined intervals. Very powerful scheduling options. Kirby Alarm Pro can run as a windows service. Version 4.44 supports hot keys making Kirby Alarm even easier to use.

The author is no longer supporting the freeware version, but it is still supposed to play well with all versions of Windows up to XP.

It may also play well with the latest version of Windows, but having specifically ordered our latest computers without Vista, I have no way of confirming this.

You can download the freeware version from download.com, where the editors gave it a 4 star rating with these comments:

This alarm-clock program offers plenty of flexibility for every type of reminder. A straightforward interface lets you get started right away by letting you pick what type of alarm you need and whether you need it only once or as a recurring reminder. At the appointed time, Kirby Alarm and Task Scheduler can send an e-mail, pop up a brief message on your desktop, launch a program, or play a sound. You also can set it to skip alarms missed when your computer is turned off. We like the ability to set recurring alarms, which makes it convenient to launch a monthly hard-drive back-up program or serve up a quick reminder about recurring appointments. The Watch File feature lets you configure the program to trigger an alarm only once a file meets certain conditions, such as starting a back-up once a virus scan finishes. Anyone looking for an easy way to pop up useful reminders or to launch recurring processes should check out Kirby Alarm And Task Scheduler.

More importantly, 729 users gave the freeware version an impressive 5 star rating overall.

The professional version can also be downloaded from download.com and from the author's website, kirbyfooty.com.

It is free to try for 30 days, after which it is 14.95 USD for the lite version, 24.95 for the full featured version, and 12.00 to upgrade from the lite to the full version according to their catalog.

Thus far, neither the editors nor any user has issued a review of the professional version at download.com.

Please note you are only permitted to employ the freeware version for personal use.

The freeware registration details are as follows:

User Identification: anyone

Registration Code: 20532

Oh, I have also uninstalled and reinstalled the freeware version, and it seems to do a good job of cleaning up after itself.

The learning curve for the basic functions is also pleasantly flat.

Nonetheless, it would still be good to hear from anyone who has found a viable alternative.

 

[Mr Happy]

It might not be quite as flexible, but don't forget the built-in Windows scheduling service, and the "at" command that I think hooks into the same thing.