By George Norman
Added on 10 Nov 2009(953 Views)



To my mind, if you’re not using something, then you should shut it down. If you’re not watching TV, then shut it down. If you not using the computer, or if the computer is not performing some task, then shut it down. The environment and your wallet will thank you for not being wasteful. Now you may have noticed that I mentioned “or if the computer is not performing some task” earlier. Sometimes you will run a process or task and let the computer finish it. This includes the times when you want to download something off the internet via the Firefox web browser. You will initiate the download, but since it will take quite some time to complete, you could go out for a walk, take a nap, or go out to lunch.

You need not worry that you are not there to shut down the computer when the download has finished. There is an add-on called Auto Shutdown that will do this for you. Here is what you have to do:

Step 1. Launch the Firefox browser.

Step 2. Click here – a new tab will open. Click Add to Firefox.

Step 3. The Software Installation window will appear. There you can see the add-on that will be installed to Firefox. Click Install Now.

Step 4. Wait for the installation process to complete. When prompted to, restart the Firefox browser (click Restart Firefox in the Add-ons window that appears -> click Restart when presented with the message Firefox will try to restore your tabs and windows when it restarts).

Step 5. After Firefox restarts, you can enable Auto Shutdown by left clicking the Auto Shutdown icon from the bottom right hand corner of the Firefox window.
You can access other options by right clicking the Auto Shutdown icon and selecting Options.

Tips and warnings
  • When you initiate a download, in the Downloads window, in the bottom right hand corner you will notice the Shutdown option is enabled.
  • Here are the features of Auto Shutdown, as detailed by InBasic, the add-on’s developer:
Executing user scripts after all downloads are finished or computer is idle for specific time
Play sound after each/All downloads are finished
Restore Firefox from last session
Customizable shutdown/idle scripts
Supporting DownThemAll



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Tags: Mozilla, Firefox, Add-on, Auto Shutdown, InBasic

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