IT tech question

My PC runs 24/7 as it provides weather data to various orgs and updates my website. Occasionally my ftp update hangs, which is OK if I am at home to reboot but not if I am away.

Is there any method to automatically reboot the PC, say at 2am, each day - I use Vista.

Cheers

So, what you're saying is your PC does not actually run 24/7. I'd suggest the probable cause was Vista. I'd also suggest that rebooting was an unnecessarily harsh step to stop a single hung process.

Rather than rebooting the PC can you not simply terminate the rogue ftp process? If you can do it manually then can you then write a program that will identify the process id of the ftp session and kill it if it takes too long? If you can't do it manually (perhaps this facility is not available in Vista) then get a proper operating system. Failing that, is the Task Scheduler still present in Vista? If so, can you schedule a daily shutdown task?

I used to do the same thing- I collected weather data (internal and external temperature and wind speed), water meter readings, a webcam snapshot etc. and uploaded graphs and images to my website. I did this on a PC which actually did run 24/7, and my highest uptime was over 400 days. The only difference is I run Linux.

A

Hi GBpeter,

I think Ame's suggestion of using the Task Scheduler is what I would try as well. Even if one FTP session hangs, it should theoretically be possible to start another one at 2am the next day and go through the whole process again.

If that doesn't work, I think you need to look for a more reliable FTP program and/or web host

I will look at the task scheduler - what I want is either an auto reboot at a set time daily or a reboot when no data has been passed for say 5 mins. It is not a regular failure (once a week or so) which is not bad considering I upload every 10 secs but if I am away for a month I don't want it hanging a day after I go out the door.

Thanks Ame but I am reasonably happy with Vista and have no intention of switching to Linux or derivatives

Grant - the webhost is the one you recommended

Cheers

quote:Originally posted by GBpeter

Grant - the webhost is the one you recommended

Oh OK, I didn't realise you were still at HostCentric []

Last I heard you were intending to move because of some issue but I can't quite remember what it was now [?]

I was on a Windows server which glitched when I had more than one concurrent ftp upload - they switched me to a unix server (at no cost after a bit of shouting) and all is well.

Oh OK. I've always been hosted on a Unix server since the very beginning in 1998, and other than the drama a few months back with FrontPage Server Extensions, reliability has always been rock-solid.

Windows-based Web Servers are:

1) More easily hacked
2) Crash much more often

So, unless there is a compelling reason to use a Windows-based Web Server, they are best avoided in my view.

Actually, your statement applies to Windows machines in general. They are best avoided in my view.

quote:Originally posted by ame

Actually, your statement applies to Windows machines in general. They are best avoided in my view.

Yes, we are well aware that this issue constitutes your personal crusade Ame []

For the rest of us though, Windows is a useful platform that runs a lot of software which is vital in our daily lives.