I want to automaticlly start my computer at various preset times each
day or week to allow  Replay radio to record some programs. I know I
can leave it on but I prefer not to- How can I do this?

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Clarification of Question by jwctoo-ga on 09 Feb 2005 21:20 PST

The computer is running XP Home edition.

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Clarification of Question by jwctoo-ga on 03 Mar 2005 21:58 PST

Thanks to all who provided comments- they were helpful.

First of all, I think you should reconsider leaving your computer on. 
Leaving it on puts minimal stress on your hardware, and the power
consumption is pretty small.

However, assuming you really don't want to do that, I think you only
have one option.  You can get an appliance timer to start your
computer at certain times.  Make sure your BIOS supports having the
computer actually power-up when power comes on; that is usually
disabled by default.  Some computers will support this, but some will
require you to push the front panel switch.

You can shutdown by using the XP scheduler to schedule the program
shutdown.exe after your program is over.  You would want the computer
to shutdown before the appliance timer kills the power.

Some motherboards do have the option of being set up to power-up at a
certain time each day.  I had an Asus P48SX motherboard and in the
BIOS (press [Del] key as the machine boots) there is an option to set
the machine to automatically boot at a specific time each day.  So, if
you have not already done it, trawl through the settings in your BIOS
to see if that option is present.  You may be lucky!

Other ways of getting a computer to power up include wake-on-ring and
wake-on-LAN which as the terms suggest wake the machine via the modem
or the LAN (network) card.  Depending on how you are set up, you could
send the wake up signal to your computer via a modem or a LAN. 
Perhaps a long shot but these may be possibilities for you.  If not,
then as the other comment says, you are going to have to put the
(time) switch in the mains supply into the computer.

Good luck!

is the computer on an network? if it is you may be able to use a feature like
wake on lan. which means that anotehr computer on the network would
send it a command to turn on

Cwraig

Actually depending on the motherboard that is in your computer this
process can be fairly simple.  Most motherboards have features that
enable you to set the computer to wake up and shut down at preselected
times.  You access the BIOS when your computer first starts up
(typically you tap the F3 or DEL key) immediately after you hear it
"beep".  The bios varies between manufacturers but it should be fairly
simple to locate teh power management area and find this setting. 
Some mass produced computers (Dell Gateway Etc) limit the bios so this
and other features aren't included but I would definately check that
first because its a simple free solution that you may already have.