How can I have Windows 10 silently check a web site every few minutes?
Solution 1:
curl
curl is available on Windows (though you may have to scroll a bit =P). I would personally recommend the official Windows builds or perhaps the builds by Dirk Paehl. The curl version number in blue is the link to the appropriate file/download page.
Regarding the command itself (minus cron), you can substitute the Windows NUL device for /dev/null :
curl --silent "https://foo.blah" > nul 2>&1
Note: Regarding execution (below), this line can be placed in a simple batch file or as part of a script.
Task Scheduler
I see that scheduled tasks are available but they don't seem to have the frequency I need.
It is possible to use Windows Task Scheduler to repeat tasks every X minutes.
In short, you can:
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Schedule a new task and set it to be run Daily (every 24hrs starting at e.g. 12:00 PM and set to Recur every 1 days) under the task Properties → Triggers tab.
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Under the Advanced section, check the Repeat task every option and set the desired repetitions. The smallest dropdown unit is 5 minutes but you can simply edit it to be 1 minute by typing in the field.
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Under the Settings tab (still under Properties), make sure to check Run task as soon as possible after a scheduled start is missed.
The one drawback to this method is that if a scheduled start time is missed, there is a 10 minute delay before "Run task as soon as possible" (above) kicks in.
cron
Another option is to try a cron replacement such as CRONw. Its older and I haven't personally tried it unfortunately, but it might be worth checking out. However, I would recommend Strawberry Perl rather than ActiveState Perl if you do.
As a final personal recommendation, Intelliadmin cron may also suit your needs. It nicely bridges the gap between something like Task Scheduler and cron. You can download a copy from the Intelliadmin downloads page from the link marked as "Windows Cron Service 2.0" (which downloads Intelliadmin cron as iadmincron.exe). This executable installs the Intelliadmin cron service and a management interface, which are both very light and utilitarian.