[Tut]Scheduler for FreeRapid Downloader

Hi FreeRapid Downloader users, and developers
I am going to present to you my method of scheduler for FreeRapid Downloader.
I will be use the acronym FRD, just in case you come past it in this tutorial and do not know what it means.

Aim of this tutorial
In this tutorial, ill be demonstrating how to schedule a task on FRD, the tools i will be using is a built in function of Windows Vista/7. Called Task Scheduler in Computer Management.
I will be splitting the full tutorial into two parts for easier understanding.

Tutorial (Auto Start FRD):
1. Hold Windows Key and press R
2. Copy and paste taskschd.msc, into the dialogue box
3. Click on the Create Task on the right panel
4. Give it a name; e.g. frdscheduler
5. Click on the Triggers tab on the top, followed by New on the bottom left
6. Select Daily, Time to start, lastly ok (change to your own preference)
7. Now go to the Actions Tab, followed by New on the bottom left
8. Browse, and select where your FRD.exe is located¹, then ok
9. Ok once more, now you are done, move onto next part
¹ Not everyone’s FRD is installed in the same path, so make sure you know where it is (It is just like a shortcut)
² Only needs to be setup once! (Unless you choose other settings)


Tutorial (Auto-Start downloads)
1. Add your downloads normally, with FRD open before ANY before appointed time
2. Select All (ctrl+a), then press resume (ctrl+r), (or chose the downloads you want started)
3. Now quickly close FRD before downloads start (so you don’t waste bandwidth)
4. Just wait for the scheduler to start, and it will auto-start all the downloads in FRD
Note: This is how the auto-start feature works.
Note: This step can be automated with a script, the script is provided by Debug. (Just go down a few post)

Now, If Vity can automate this process in the next release it will be wonderful. (tut1)

WinXP Tut:
Go Here: [hiox.org]
It is a pictorial;
Credit goes to whoever wrote it, Not me.

Mac OS:
I do not think the same feature exists in Mac OS.
Maybe someone can provide a similar solution for Mac users.

Updates=======================
Edit: Reword it a bit
Edit²: Added Link to WinXP Tut.
Edit³: Added Debug's Auto Resume
/Updates=======================



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/12/2010 01:22AM by wakkawalla.

Hi there, I seem to have come to the very same method while trying to find a solution to this problem.
I did make one small improvement to make life easier for me, and that was to create a separate standalone mini-app using AutoHotkey to automate the ctrl+a (select all) and ctrl+r (resume) operations and to add this into the scheduler instead of FRD, so that I don't have to try to do the keystrokes manually and try to perform the quick shutdown FRD before they begin. All you need to do is add your links as PAUSED and then at the scheduled time, the mini-app will look for the already running FRD program by window title "FreeRapid Downloader 0.83u1 by Vity&team" and then maximize/activate it and then send the keystrokes mentioned.
I am using it quite happily on my WinXPSP3 machine (not tested with any other Windows version) combined with the windows scheduler to kick this off only when I want (for me 5 minutes after my off-peak internet usage period starts each night).
I have attached this mini-app for anyone to use if they want.
Cheers, debug.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/09/2010 04:54PM by debug.

"Cannot find " taskschd.msc" what happens next please?

If using windows XP, the easiest way is to go: Start --> Control Panel --> Scheduled Tasks --> Add Scheduled Task

Alternative is through Windows Explorer: Start --> All Programs --> Accessories --> Windows Explorer, and then go:
My Computer --> Control Panel --> Scheduled Tasks --> Add Scheduled Task

It should be similar with any other Windows version; sorry, but can't help for Mac.

Thanks debug for an excellent and fast reply--Yes, I am running XP Pro SP3, but it is the "Performance edition" really fast OS. and the Task Scheduler may have been removed (?). Will need to investigate further...

Unfortunately when I follow your recommendations I get a long error code which tells me not authorised.

I will do some more searches on the net to see how I can invoke the task scheduler fully.

In the meantime I want to start the downloads at 11pm--no probs there --- but I can't see a place to "close" the downloads at the following 6 am...I will probably figure it out but I need to grab my fastest download period on a nightly basis. The above idea of "saving" the downloads until later would be superb for my movie and TV series downloads. Just need to make it all work now...

Hi hulland, I can't say I've ever heard of the "Performance Edition" of XP before, so can't help you with this; hope you figure it out and get it to work for you.
FYI I have attached 2 more AutoHotkey compiled scripts that I created to "stop" the downloads.
Only 1 is actually required, you can either use the one to pause all jobs or the one to cancel all jobs depending on your specific requirements (I use the pause one myself); just add another scheduled task (when you figure out how) to run one of these when required. Good luck.

P.S. If you can't get the Windows Scheduler to work for you, you may want to check if you have the non-gui (and less known about) command-line scheduler "AT". You can info on this and schedule tasks with this using the command-prompt:
Start --> All Programs --> Accessories --> Command Prompt
Then type:

at.exe /?

To get info on how to use the command; it is slightly harder to set up than the other version, but works just as well (if not better as it has more options).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/2010 04:18PM by debug.

Hey, Debug.
Thank you for the support, and your AutoHotKey executables.

@ Hulland,
Get Win7 it is so much better in some many ways. (The FULL version!)

Sweet! FRD seems to check for not running multiple instances of itself, so it looks like it should be safe to add a task to start it, then another to resume everything a bit later.

Is it possible to set permanently to switch off the computer after downloading is finished? There is no such an option in GUI and you have to set in in the menu meaning you have to be by the computer every time this scheduler fires up the program. Thanks.

Hi maiki,
I do not know of a way to set the shutdown option permanently, but have created another mini-app to dynamically set this option when run.
The app is attached and is called "FRD_auto_shutdown_option.exe" (again this is for MS Windows only) and it accepts 1 parameter to indicate what the auto shutdown option should be set to.
The available options are the same as through the GUI (lower case only). i.e.

FRD_auto_shutdown_option.exe d
FRD_auto_shutdown_option.exe q
FRD_auto_shutdown_option.exe h
FRD_auto_shutdown_option.exe y
FRD_auto_shutdown_option.exe r
FRD_auto_shutdown_option.exe s

You can schedule this app after the other "resume" schedule so that it will shutdown (either only FreeRapid, or your computer) after the downloads have completed.

e.g. if your "resume" schedule is say 2:00am then this "shutdown" schedule could be set to run at maybe 2:05am.

Hopefully the developers of FreeRapid will include this ability in a future version so we don't have to resort to these mini-apps. Cheers, debug.