# I want my computer to beep (or something) every X minutes. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 2, 2006, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-computer-to-beep-or-something-every-x-minutes/346835 "2006-03-02T23:19:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2006, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-computer-to-beep-or-something-every-x-minutes/346835/1 "2006-03-02T23:19:16Z")
One of the physical therapists in my office wants to get or create something for his patients who work at computers that would alert them & remind them to get up and stretch every, say, half an hour. Is there something simple that would do this? Anything that would help, for any OS, would be helpful. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2006, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-computer-to-beep-or-something-every-x-minutes/346835/2 "2006-03-02T23:24:02Z")
You could do it with MS Outlook, I guess. But it would be really bloody annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2006, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-computer-to-beep-or-something-every-x-minutes/346835/3 "2006-03-02T23:25:06Z")
The easiest way would be to set a reminder using MS Outlook. Basically you set a recurring appointment for every 30 minutes, or a daily appointment and snooze it every 30 minutes. I’m sure a more savvy XP guy can recommend something that’s inherent to the OS and uses it’s own scheduler. The third option would be to write a fairly simple script, which a programmer would have to do. That’s outside my skills. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2006, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-computer-to-beep-or-something-every-x-minutes/346835/4 "2006-03-02T23:28:15Z")
From the first page of Google results searching on _reminder stretch computer_[http://www.paratec.com/](http://www.paratec.com/) [http://www.workpace.com/](http://www.workpace.com/) [http://www.stretchminute.com/](http://www.stretchminute.com/) Looks like they’re all available in Windows and Mac versions. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2006, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-computer-to-beep-or-something-every-x-minutes/346835/5 "2006-03-02T23:32:39Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > From the first page of Google results… :smack: Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-computer-to-beep-or-something-every-x-minutes/346835/6 "2006-03-03T07:14:52Z")
Cheap & crude option…copy the following into Notepad: ```auto :START START/min sndrec32 /play /close %windir%\media\ding.wav ping -n 10 127.0.0.1 goto START ``` Save it as ‘reminder.bat’ (or anything ending with .bat) on the desktop. Then just doubleclick the icon to run it. ‘ping -n 10’ has it set to repeat every ten seconds, so you can change this to whatever you want. And you can change the ‘%windir%\media\ding.wav’ section to point to a different sound file. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-computer-to-beep-or-something-every-x-minutes/346835/7 "2006-03-03T07:20:50Z")
Ooops, forgot the crucial phrase: “On a Windows computer…” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-computer-to-beep-or-something-every-x-minutes/346835/8 "2006-03-03T17:32:37Z")
There’s a freeware utility called “wav.exe” which you can find [on this page](http://www.nonags.com/nonags/cl.html). Record a message saying “Get up & walk around!” or what have you, then in the windows “Control Panel” create a scheduled task to run “wav.exe get-up.wav” or whatever you called it. I think it would be fairly trivial to write a small program that could play a sound at a regular interval. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-computer-to-beep-or-something-every-x-minutes/346835/9 "2006-03-03T17:40:26Z")
Some monitors have this built in, too. We shipped a new set of computers out to all the branches a while back on a contract I was working on, and they kept locking up on a blank screen every hour on the hour. Got to be annoying as all get out, and generated a great many calls to the help desk. Anybody who wanted to get any work done figured out how to defeat it. ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-computer-to-beep-or-something-every-x-minutes/346835/10 "2006-03-03T17:40:48Z")
I should have mentioned - the various unixes & linuxes all have command-line sound utilities (assuming the end-user has the correct stuff installed). You could also write a trivial bourne-shell script that does: ```auto #!/bin/sh PLAYSOUND=/path/to/whatever/soundplayer SOUND=/path/to/soundfile while [true] do sleep 1800 #or however long... $PLAYSOUND $SOUND done ``` ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-computer-to-beep-or-something-every-x-minutes/346835/11 "2006-03-03T17:46:11Z")
If you want to do it the fancy way, you could use the command scheduler (on Windows NT/2000/XP). [This link describes how to use it (scroll down to command scheduler)](http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/winntas/deploy/prodspecs/shellscr.mspx) . To play the sound, use the command GorillaMan suggested: START/min sndrec32 /play /close %windir%\media\ding.wav ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-computer-to-beep-or-something-every-x-minutes/346835/12 "2006-03-03T18:02:18Z")
Now, if you wanted to be fancy about it, you could write a nice cross-platform app using [SDL](http://www.libsdl.org). It would take a little C programming, but would have the benefit of being (almost) write-once-compile-anywhere. Given the small set of requirements, you could probably knock it together in less than a day. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-computer-to-beep-or-something-every-x-minutes/346835/13 "2006-03-03T22:09:27Z")
On any \*nix, use cron. ---
**Author:** ![satheb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@satheb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/satheb)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-computer-to-beep-or-something-every-x-minutes/346835/14 "2010-10-26T10:08:01Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Cheap & crude option…copy the following into Notepad: > > ```auto > > :START > START/min sndrec32 /play /close %windir%\media\ding.wav > ping -n 10 127.0.0.1 > goto START > > ``` > > Save it as ‘reminder.bat’ (or anything ending with .bat) on the desktop. Then just doubleclick the icon to run it. > > ‘ping -n 10’ has it set to repeat every ten seconds, so you can change this to whatever you want. And you can change the ‘%windir%\media\ding.wav’ section to point to a different sound file. May I request you to add another line or whatever many that are required to the above program so that I can set the time upto which or the duration of this reminder. Thanks and God Bless you! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-computer-to-beep-or-something-every-x-minutes/346835/15 "2010-10-26T11:48:32Z")
It can be done with this quick and dirty method, but it’s a bit weird. The black screen that pops up can ask you how many minutes you want. (Stopping at a specified time is a bit more complicated.) ```auto @ECHO OFF set /p n=Please enter duration in minutes: set /a n*=6 :START START /min sndrec32 /play /close %windir%\media\ding.wav ping -n 10 127.0.0.1 > NUL set /a n-=1 If Not %N% == 0 Goto START ``` Or if you just want to be able to set it only once in the file itself, try ```auto @ECHO OFF set n=8 'minutes set /a n*=6 :START START /min sndrec32 /play /close %windir%\media\ding.wav ping -n 10 127.0.0.1 > NUL set /a n-=1 If Not %N% == 0 Goto START ``` Change the “set n=” line to whatever number of minutes you want. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-computer-to-beep-or-something-every-x-minutes/346835/16 "2010-10-26T11:50:19Z")
> **[Linux Chime at Reminder Software Informer](https://reminder1.software.informer.com/download-reminder-linux-chime/)** > > Download Reminder Linux Chime at Reminder Informer: MDL Chime/Chime Pro for Internet Explorer, AIV Reminder, CyberMatrix Reminder. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-computer-to-beep-or-something-every-x-minutes/346835/17 "2010-10-26T17:20:16Z")
Or you could just go with an oven timer… ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-computer-to-beep-or-something-every-x-minutes/346835/18 "2010-10-26T17:45:44Z")
There’s freeware out there that does exactly what you want it to do. A former coworker used it. Every 45 minutes or so it would interrupt her work and lead her through a bunch of little stretches. It runs on every platform and is extremely customizable. It also has a snooze button. Unfortunately I can’t remember the name of it. But I googled on “freeware exercise reminder” and came up with a bunch of hits. [This](http://www.brothersoft.com/break-reminder-73765.html) isn’t it but it looks similar. No need for that fancy coding that just beeps. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-computer-to-beep-or-something-every-x-minutes/346835/19 "2010-10-26T18:16:52Z")
I’m guessing that the person in question found a solution or is no longer watching this 4 year old thread… ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-computer-to-beep-or-something-every-x-minutes/346835/20 "2010-10-26T22:03:28Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > I’m guessing that the person in question found a solution or is no longer watching this 4 year old thread… **satheb** ’s request is recent, though. > [@tdn](#): > > No need for that fancy coding that just beeps. It is nowhere near fancy coding. There’s a reason it’s called a quick-and-dirty method. I mean, you’re relying on DOS (well, the command shell) and pinging your connection for 10 seconds. It’s a kludge. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-computer-to-beep-or-something-every-x-minutes/346835.md?page=2)