Simple Alarm for Windows

Written by René Guarneros-Mata, January 1996.

This program is freeware.


Installation Instructions

1. Copy the file alarm.exe to the subdirectory of your choice. (Suggested
   location: c:\alarm)

2. (Optional) Add a program item to the Accessories group.
   Open the Accessories Group
   Select the File menu
   Select the New option
   Press the OK button (make sure that you are about to add a program item)
   The "Program Item Properties" dialogue should be on the screen now:
   Description= Alarm  
   Command Line= c:\alarm\alarm.exe
   Press the OK button

Using Alarm for Windows

1. Run the program. 

2. To set the alarm choose the Set option from the menu. A dialogue appears.

3. Enter the time you want to set the alarm to go off. See General Comments
   below for more information. Use a number from 0 to 12 for the hour and 
   from 0 to 59 for the minutes. The program does NOT check the validity 
   of these entries so do it right, otherwise who knows what will happen.
   (What did you expect for free?)

4. Enter the message that you want the computer to show when the
   alarm goes off. No more than 80 characters. If you don't enter
   any message the computer will display a blank message box.

5. Minimize the program window. That's it.

General comments

The program depends on the computer's clock. Obviously, if the time is
not set correctly, the alarm will not go off at the correct time.

The alarm goes off only once.

The program only works if the time at which you set the alarm and the
time you want it to go off are within the same calendar day.
In other words, the alarm will NOT go off if you set the alarm any time 
today and set the alarm to go off sometime tomorrow. For example, if you
are working at the computer at 11:00 p.m. and you set the alarm to go off
at 1:00 a.m. the next morning, the alarm will NOT go off. 

I wrote this program for my use when I realized that it would be nice
to have a very small, simple program that I could use to sound a beep
to remind me of appointments while I was at the computer. The idea was
to write a very simple program that did not take a lot of resources
from Windows.

Error Messages

The program can display only one error message. If you have a lot of
instances of the Windows Clock running or if you have too many programs
that use the Windows Timer, then the program will display the message: 
"No timer was available, the alarm was not set." The solution is to 
close one or more of the programs that use the timer and try setting
the alarm again.