"could not start" scheduled tasks after time change

[Rowdy]

I have noticed that when time changes Task Scheduler
forgets the password and can no longer run the tasks that
it is assigned. The password must be reentered and then
it works again. I maintain 41 servers with around 5 tasks
each and the password is asked for twice for each task
and this must be done twice yearly. Is there a patch or
is a patch in the works to fix this?

 

[Jeff Patterson [MSFT]]

Rowdy,

This issue may occur when the system partition of your computer is
configured to use the FAT file system. The issue is caused by the hash used
for the account password for the task(s). The Task Scheduler service
creates a .job file that contains the task information for each task. The
account password is hashed using several variables, one of which is the .job
file's timestamp. On an NTFS file system, the timestamp is static and is
reported to the user based on the current time zone, so the Daylight Saving
Time change does not actually modify the file attributes. However, with
the FAT file system, all files have their timestamp changed after the
Daylight Saving Time change. When this timestamp change occurs, the
password hash no longer matches and the .job file does not run.

This issue has been resolved in Service Pack 4 for Windows 2000.

Jeff Patterson
Microsoft Support

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties and confers no rights.
Please reply to the newsgroup so that others may benefit.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I agree with your diagnosis but not with your conclusion: I have
serveral Win2000 machines, all running SP4, and the problem
persists on machines that have the system installed on a FAT32
partition.

 

[Ricardo M. Urbano - W2K/NT4 MVP]

Rowdy,

This issue may occur when the system partition of your computer is
configured to use the FAT file system. The issue is caused by the hash used
for the account password for the task(s). The Task Scheduler service
creates a .job file that contains the task information for each task. The
account password is hashed using several variables, one of which is the .job
file's timestamp. On an NTFS file system, the timestamp is static and is
reported to the user based on the current time zone, so the Daylight Saving
Time change does not actually modify the file attributes. However, with
the FAT file system, all files have their timestamp changed after the
Daylight Saving Time change. When this timestamp change occurs, the
password hash no longer matches and the .job file does not run.

This issue has been resolved in Service Pack 4 for Windows 2000.

Jeff Patterson
Microsoft Support

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties and confers no rights.
Please reply to the newsgroup so that others may benefit.

Holy s***!! So, that's the reason?! That problem has been posted here
forever and that's the first explanation for it I have ever seen.

Thanks!!