I'm tired of missing events!

July 20, 2009 10:45 AM

I'm looking for a freeware (and spyware free) windows xp desktop application that will allow me to set alarms for specific times and dates.

I'm constantly forgetting stuff. When this tv show is on, when to call my grandmother to wish her happy birthday, etc. I just have a total disconnection with time.

I want some application that will just sit in my taskbar, not take up too much memory, and notify me of events I've set or that it's 8pm.

I'm really not looking for a webapp/website/online method.

any help is appreciated!

posted by royalsong to Computers & Internet (9 answers total)

I used to use Chameleon Clock. You can set up alarms to do whatever and it just replaces your windows XP clock. Uses little memory.

Linky
posted by zephyr_words at 11:05 AM on July 20, 2009

Freeware and spyware free, huh? Oh, Windows, how tricksy you are. Sad and funny.

For a very safe choice, I'd try out Mozilla Sunbird. It's sort of an iCal desktop application for all platforms. It has network support but also works just fine as a one computer standalone tool. Appointments, anniversaries, alarms etc.
posted by rokusan at 11:18 AM on July 20, 2009

why not just use the built-in, oft-neglected, windows task scheduler? have it use sndrec.exe to play an alarm or something? you can't get any free-er or skimpier than that.

go to Start Menu > Accessories > System Tools > Scheduled Tasks
posted by Mach5 at 11:37 AM on July 20, 2009

why not just use the built-in, oft-neglected, windows task scheduler?

Since you're asking, when I tried this a few years ago the best way I could figure to get Task Scheduler to alarm me was to have it open a specific local .html file that autoplayed an embedded sound file in Internet Explorer. It worked... occasionally. Whether that's a testament to my lack of computerizationing skill or proof that TS is a useless kludge for this I leave to your sound judgement.
posted by carsonb at 11:54 AM on July 20, 2009

AT Notes. Make a note, set an alarm to it. Program is no longer supported by its author, but I've used it on every machine I've had for the last ten years or so.
posted by sageleaf at 12:50 PM on July 20, 2009

Best answer: Rainlendar does this just fine for me. it sits unobtrusively on my desktop and I don't know how I organized my life without it.
posted by Verdandi at 3:01 PM on July 20, 2009

I suffered from the same problem. If you have a mobile (cell) phone then you could try what I did. I sync all these things from outlook to my phone. Its always on and always with me, so it reminds me to do things just like you have there. Relatives birthday, dinner with friends, phone conferences after work etc.
posted by Admira at 5:13 PM on July 20, 2009

Best answer: Seconding Rainlendar at rainlendar.net (whoops, Verdandi's link goes to a parked page). It's available for Windows, OSX and Linux. You can classify a new item as an event or a task, and have reminders, alarms (audio and/or visual), and a bunch of other settings (e.g. one-time thing or recurring, start date, due date). It's pretty handy.

Rainlendar is recommended a lot here on AskMe -- I found out about it a long time ago in this previous thread, but it's been mentioned in others as well.
posted by rangefinder 1.4 at 6:54 PM on July 20, 2009

Response by poster: Rainlendar.net is working awesomely. Thanks for the recommendations!
posted by royalsong at 11:58 AM on July 28, 2009