Wait

Wait is a Windows application that can be configured to display a custom message on the screen for any duration. It can be accessed from the command-line interface and used to remind yourself of important tasks that you have to take care of right away.

You don't have to go through an installation phase because Wait is portable. It consists of a single .exe file that can be saved anywhere on the computer or placed on a thumb drive and deployed on any machine without setup.

There are no software dependencies involved. The message tool doesn't add new entries to the system registry or create other files on the disk without your permission.

Double-clicking the .exe brings up a small window with the syntax, which can be used in a Command Prompt dialog. The usage is Wait.exe [SecondsToWait | /m:Milliseconds to wait] [/d:Message] [/t:Title] [/q], [/v] [/? | /h].

You can specify the on-screen duration of the message in either seconds or milliseconds (makes sure to write /m: in case of milliseconds), enter the custom message you wish to be reminded of (/d:Message), specify the message's title in the window's title bar (/t:Title), as well as activate silent mode (/q). The help section can be reviewed by typing /? or /h.

Once you press the Enter key to send the command, Wait shows the message on the lower-right corner of the screen, right above the system tray. It counts down the on-screen time to show you how many seconds are left until the message disappears. You can also hide it by clicking anywhere on the window.

We haven't encountered any compatibility issues on Windows 10 in our tests, although Wait hasn't been updated for a long time. It executed commands fast and without errors. Wait provides you with a simple means of setting up custom messages to display on the screen for any length of time, as long as you're familiarized with the Command Prompt environment.