Alarm on Media Player

I’m assuming that Windows is installed in C:\Windows. We’ll be using Window’s built-in task scheduler and media player as our alarm clock.

1. Find a song or sound that is effective at waking you in the morning. You can use some of Window’s default sounds located in
   “C:\Windows\Media”. An effective sound is “C:\Windows\Media\ringin.wav“.
2. Bring up your Windows Scheduled Task tool (Start » All Programs » Accessories » System Tools » Scheduled Tasks).
   

   
   - Scheduled Tasks (Enlarge) -

3. Double click the Add Scheduled Task icon to bring up the wizard for scheduling a new task.
   

   
   - Scheduled Task Wizard -

   Click “Next” to continue.

4. Locate and select Windows Media Player from the list applications.
   

   
   - Application Selection -

   Click “Next” to continue.

5. Name the task (e.g. Daily Alarm). Set the task to run daily (or weekly if you want the alarm to only go off on specific days).
   

   
   - Alarm Frequency -

   Click “Next” to continue.

6. Set the time when you want the alarm to go off.

   If you chose a daily schedule, you have the option of setting the alarm to ring everyday, only on weekdays, or once after every fixed day interval.

   
   - Alarm: 8:00AM Weekdays -

   If you selected weekly schedule, you can specify the days when you want the alarm to go off (e.g. every Monday and Friday).

   
   - Alarm: 8:00AM on Mondays and Fridays -

   Click “Next” to continue.

7. Set a user name (we’ll be disabling this later).
   

   
   - Windows User -

   Click “Next” to continue.

8. Make sure the “Open advanced properties for this task when I click Finish” is checked.
   

   
   - Finish -

   Click “Finish” to continue customising the task.

9. A properties window will be displayed for the scheduled task. Make the following changes:
   

   
   - Alarm Properties -

   • Append the following to the end of the “Run” field:
     /play “”

     e.g. /play “C:\Windows\Media\ringin.wav”
     

   • Check the “Run only if logged on” option

   Click “OK” to apply the changes and exit the properties setting.

10. Run Windows Media Player and set it to repeat indefinitely. The way to do this varies depending on the version of Media Player you are using. For Media Player 9, you enable repeat from the Menu, by selecting Play » Repeat.

Before going to sleep, simply switch on your computer and login as the specified user (e.g. for my case ‘gbyeow’). You must be logged in for it to work (the computer can be locked). Alternatively, you can provide the password in which case you don’t have to be logged in. If you decide to do the latter, make sure you deselect the “Run only if logged on” option in the task properties.

If you did it right, you’ll have an alarm ringing at the specified schedule without needing to install anything extra.