You may recall I wrote a month or so ago about Intel's AnyPoint home networking package. It's a great package and works flawlessly, but there is one thing that makes it work better: rebooting the computer every now and again.

   You get spoiled with this stuff. I wake up in the morning and check my email with my laptop before I even bother to get dressed (no comments from the peanut gallery, please). Because I get email news from the New York Times, a couple of fine joke lists and the weather report, it is almost like reading the paper. The computer in my "office" downstairs, the server which is constantly connected to the 'net by cable modem, stays on all the time.

   Every now and again something would happen during the night and I lost my internet connection. What was it? I don't know. But I got the idea that if I could just reboot the downstairs computer on a daily basis, the problem would be pretty much solved.

   How spoiled we get. To reboot meant padding down two flights of stairs, sitting for a couple of minutes, and then going back upstairs. A pain in the patooie. What I needed was a way to reboot the server without having to do it myself.

   Enter an absolutely marvelous program called Shutdown Plus. As its name implies, Shutdown Plus shuts down the computer. It can actually shut it down or reboot. I suppose it is pretty obvious to all that I use it to reboot.

   If that was all it did, I would be very pleased with Shutdown Plus. However, this fine utility gives you quite a bit more than just a shutdown or a reboot. For one thing, you tell it what time you want this to happen. For me, that time is 5 a.m. And like, well, clockwork, every single day, at 5 a.m. Shutdown Plus reboots the server. I am asleep. You can set Shutdown Plus to reboot or shut down at any time you want and at any sort or interval. An obvious use for this excellent utility is if you leave the machine on for a long download. Just estimate the time that will take and then tell  Shutdown Plus to shut down.

   Shutdown Plus will also close open windows as it shuts down. So you don't have to worry about having a bunch of stuff on your screen when you are ready to use the machine again. It is a single click of an option button to do this.

   I have saved the very best for last. Shutdown Plus can also run programs for you.

   I have set it to run Scan Disk to check for errors, delete temporary internet files and delete my temp files every time it reboots. You just select the programs you want run and it will run them. And it will run them at different intervals as well. Here, finally, is the answer to the backup "problem." You don't need to make backups: Shutdown Plus will do it for you. And while you're asleep or at work!

   Over the years I have looked at hundreds and hundreds of utilities and I have always said something like "gee, I wish this did so-and-so." Shutdown Plus is the first program I can truly say is complete in every way. It does everything it needs to do. And very efficiently.

   In sum, Shutdown Plus is an outstanding utility you will use every day.

Connect to the Shutdown Plus web site.