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> DIY Delphi > Netclose Shutdown Utility
NETCLOSE SHUTDOWN UTILITY
SUMMARY
Netclose is a small, single-purpose utility I wrote to meet
a specific need. I use Free Agent and Gravity as my Usenet
clients; they can be set up to download a batch of files
and then disconnect from the internet, but not to shut down
the computer afterwards.
This is the gap that Netclose fills. It monitors your system's
internet connection, and shuts down the computer 30 seconds
after it detects a disconnection.
PROGRAMMING RATIONALE
Netclose only works under Windows 2000, XP and 2003. It
would actually have been simpler to code a program for Win9x,
but the shutdown code doesn't work under NT-based systems.
Secondly, there is already a program that does exactly for
Win9x what Netclose does for WinNT; it's called Multimodemia,
available at
http://www.leeos.com/multimodemia.html
The site claims that Multimodemia works under Win2000/XP,
but it doesn't.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Windows 2000, XP or 2003. Tested under the first two of
these systems.
INSTALLATION/UNINSTALLATION
Simply unzip the files in the archive to a folder and run
Netclose. To uninstall, delete the same files.
USAGE
Run Netclose whenever you wish. It will detect whether there
is an active internet connection at any stage while it is
running. If you check the 'Shutdown On Disconnect' box,
Netclose will shutdown Windows 30 seconds after disconnection,
unless you prevent this action by closing the program.
LIMITATIONS
Netclose won't shutdown Windows if Zone Alarm is running;
it closes all programs, but leaves the system "hanging".
I haven't been able to fix this; it works well with the
native XP firewall, and as I've only ever used these two
firewall utilities, I don't know if the problem occurs in
other similar software.
Netclose also won't close Windows if the screensaver is
active, but I think I have a fix for this, and I'm working
on it. For now, though, the simple solution is to disable
your screensaver and re-enable it when you next switch on
the computer.
DOWNLOAD
Netclose can be downloaded from here
(ZIP file, 420 Kb). Archive includes executable and
source.
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