KeyOff Lite monitors the keyboard and mouse and initiates computer power off after there has been no activity for more than 15 minutes. The program activates 2 seconds after starting and powers off 1 minute after power off is initiated unless power off is cancelled. KeyOff Lite is part of the JSutils group of software utilities which have a theme of energy conservation. To find more energy and money saving ideas check out Practical Home Energy Saving.

Uses of KeyOff Lite include shutting down the computer when it has been unused for over 15 minutes to save energy. It can be started via the Windows Task Scheduler, on start up or manually to allow the computer to power off automatically when unused. This is a great little utility for saving energy by powering off computers that are not in use.

Installation is simple just unzip the installer KeyOffL.exe from the downloaded file KeyOffL.zip, double click on the installer and follow the on screen instructions (when selected, shortcuts are installed for all users). As well as installing the program this will also install the help pages. Start the program and enter the registration code to start using KeyOff Lite. KeyOff Lite supports Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003 and Windows Vista. The program needs administrator privileges to install.

KeyOff Lite operates by checking for keyboard and mouse activity once a second. Each time there is activity the countdown timer is reset until the countdown time is reached and power off is initiated. Each time a key is pressed or the mouse is moved the activity will be displayed on the left of the main screen (when visible) with a 'K' indicating key presses and an 'M' indicating mouse movement.

KeyOff Lite runs in the System Tray (the program can be made visible by double clicking on the tray icon). Once power off is initiated KeyOff Lite switches to visible 'run on top' and the About, Exit and Test buttons are disabled. power off can be cancelled by clicking the Cancel button which will put the program back in the System Tray unless the program was already visible. Program operation is inhibited while the About screen is open, this screen will automatically time out after 30 seconds if left open.

Click on the Test button to enable Test Mode which reduces both the power off delay and the monitoring period to 5 seconds and puts up a pop up rather than powering off the computer. Clicking the Test button while in Test Mode will reinitialise Test Mode. Click the Reset button to exit Test Mode or Reset the program in operational mode.

The program consumes very little system resources but it does run with a high priority. Power off has been configured to force all running applications to close. For information about the log file see Log File. It is only possible to run one instance of KeyOff Lite at a time. If KeyOff Lite is in power off mode when an attempt to start a second instance occurs the error message will open beneath the first program window which will take priority.

The license of this software is Freeware, you can free download and free use this system monitor software.