Shutdown PC

Written in pure Windows API, Shutdown PC is a feather-light and portable software program that you can use to schedule your computer to power off on a countdown timer. It features a handful of options that can be easily configured.

Portability advantages

The entire application's wrapped in a single .exe file that you can copy to the local disk or a removable storage unit, in order to run it on any machine with minimum effort and no previous installers. It doesn't need DLLs to run, create files on the disk without permission, or modify your system registry settings.

Simple GUI for scheduling PC shutdown

It's packed in a plain and simple interface, represented by a single window that stays on top of other programs and shows all options provided by the tool.
You can specify the countdown timer in minutes and click a button to trigger it, as well as instruct Shutdown PC to beep in the last 20 seconds and to show a message with any text you write. This way, you are given the possibility to cancel the task if you change your mind. The utility gets minimized to the taskbar.

Evaluation and observations

Although it hasn't been updated for a long time, it worked smoothly on newer Windows versions in our tests, without causing the OS to hang, crash or indicate errors. As we expected, it didn't put a strain on the computer's performance, using low CPU and RAM.
On the other hand, it doesn't feature additional power options, such as standby or restart. Moreover, it doesn't give you the possibility to turn off the PC at a sharp time.

Conclusion

To sum it up, Shutdown PC facilitates a simple and effective solution for scheduling your workstation to turn off on a countdown timer.