With this handy tip from Marc, a reader of Hack7MC, we can setup a regular alarm clock using Task Scheduler, mcShoutcast and Media Center. Much like your standard alarm clock this setup will be set to wake each morning and start a radio stream. Users can setup the alarm to wake regularly on weekdays, weekends or whenever you need an alarm set though the method isn’t exactly easy to setup initially and won’t allow for any sort of snooze action. Though a far cry from a full featured alarm clock plugin it will get the job done for anyone hard up for an alarm clock or the idea could even be expanded upon by enterprising users or future plugin programmers.

To get started with this example you’ll need to have mcShoutcast downloaded and installed, though the same process can be applied to any entry point. This example will launch mcShoutcast and start playing the first favorite station. To get started setting up the scheduled alarm open up Task Scheduler from the start menu (start –> “task scheduler” –> enter) and select the option to Create Basic Task.

Give the task a name and description of your own choosing and move on to the next step in creating the task, setting the trigger. For a standard Monday through Friday alarm setup choose the Weekly option. From here the task can be set to run on specific days each week at a specific time each morning.

Continuing on tell the Task Scheduler to Start a program at these times and enter the following to have mcShoutcast open and play the first favorite station: C:\Windows\ehome\ehshell.exe /entrypoint:{6691E7EC-EF42-4493-A2E9-2DA345F9B7D5}\{BB2F49CD-159C-4e06-91A8-80CE232DB19C}

Task Scheduler will inform you that the second portion of the string actually belongs in the arguments box (everything following the .exe) but will give you the option to do this automatically if not done by hand. Click OK on the dialog to move the entrypoint argument to the arguments box.

Some users may also need to set the options to run the program with Highest Privileges and to Wake the computer if sleeping. These options can be accessed by selecting the new task in the Task Scheduler Library and selecting Properties from the right. Select the Conditions tab from the Properties dialog and check the checkbox to enable waking the computer from sleep (which may also require highest privileges found on the General tab).

That should be all there is to it. Close any open dialogs and return to Windows. This method of launching mcShoutcast will open Windows Media Center if not already running, launch the plugin and then begin playing the first favorite station. To launch other plugins you’ll need to get the entrypoint as described in this previous article or use another Media Center switch to launch other media types.

Thanks to Marc for the tip and to all our Hack7MC readers. If you’ve got a tip for us let us know with our contact form! For those not yet signed up for one of our free subscriptions be sure to do that now as well!