Scheduler Dead.

[Jack]

After 4 months running XP Pro with almost no problems,
Scheduled Tasks simply stopped running.

This includes the WinAmp playlists I'd scheduled to run as
an alarm clock and Norton Antivirus's virus scans and Live
Updates. All of this had been working since January.

I scheduled some tasks for 1 minute in the future to see
exactly what Scheduler had to say at the appointed time.
Here's what happens when a scheduled task fails: Nothing!
Nothing at all! The "status" column remains BLANK. Until
somewhere between 8 and 12 hours later when XP pops up
a "Some tasks that were scheduled to run may have been
missed" dialog.

This is NOT a password problem. If I right click on a
task and select "run," it runs. In fact, if I run a task
that way, then schedule it to run 1 minute in the future,
it WILL run. But if I follow the same procedure and
schedule the task to run, say, 8hrs in the future, the
task fails. The time comes and goes and Scheduler doesn't
even notice.

I'm at a loss. I have no idea what the problem is or how
to go about fixing it. Suggestions?

-Jack
(cross-posted to Security & Administration)

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

Have you checked that the Scheduled Task's time(s) are in synch with the PC's system clock?

--

Will Denny
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User


| After 4 months running XP Pro with almost no problems,
| Scheduled Tasks simply stopped running.
|
| This includes the WinAmp playlists I'd scheduled to run as
| an alarm clock and Norton Antivirus's virus scans and Live
| Updates. All of this had been working since January.
|
| I scheduled some tasks for 1 minute in the future to see
| exactly what Scheduler had to say at the appointed time.
| Here's what happens when a scheduled task fails: Nothing!
| Nothing at all! The "status" column remains BLANK. Until
| somewhere between 8 and 12 hours later when XP pops up
| a "Some tasks that were scheduled to run may have been
| missed" dialog.
|
| This is NOT a password problem. If I right click on a
| task and select "run," it runs. In fact, if I run a task
| that way, then schedule it to run 1 minute in the future,
| it WILL run. But if I follow the same procedure and
| schedule the task to run, say, 8hrs in the future, the
| task fails. The time comes and goes and Scheduler doesn't
| even notice.
|
| I'm at a loss. I have no idea what the problem is or how
| to go about fixing it. Suggestions?
|
| -Jack
| (cross-posted to Security & Administration)

 

[Jack]

Yes. Just had another look at it. The times in Scheduler
are what they should be. AM/PM fields match the system
clock. After manually running a task, the "last run time"
field displays the same time as the system clock.

-Jack

-----Original Message-----
Hi

Have you checked that the Scheduled Task's time(s) are in

synch with the PC's system clock?

--

Will Denny
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User


"Jack" <[email protected]> wrote in

message news:[email protected]...

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

You haven't two Scheduled Tasks set to startup at the same time?

--

Will Denny
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User


| Yes. Just had another look at it. The times in Scheduler
| are what they should be. AM/PM fields match the system
| clock. After manually running a task, the "last run time"
| field displays the same time as the system clock.
|
| -Jack
|
| >-----Original Message-----
| >Hi
| >
| >Have you checked that the Scheduled Task's time(s) are in
| synch with the PC's system clock?
| >
| >--
| >
| >Will Denny
| >MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
| >
| >
| message | >| After 4 months running XP Pro with almost no problems,
| >| Scheduled Tasks simply stopped running.
| >|
| >| This includes the WinAmp playlists I'd scheduled to run
| as
| >| an alarm clock and Norton Antivirus's virus scans and
| Live
| >| Updates. All of this had been working since January.
| >|
| >| I scheduled some tasks for 1 minute in the future to
| see
| >| exactly what Scheduler had to say at the appointed
| time.
| >| Here's what happens when a scheduled task fails:
| Nothing!
| >| Nothing at all! The "status" column remains BLANK.
| Until
| >| somewhere between 8 and 12 hours later when XP pops up
| >| a "Some tasks that were scheduled to run may have been
| >| missed" dialog.
| >|
| >| This is NOT a password problem. If I right click on a
| >| task and select "run," it runs. In fact, if I run a
| task
| >| that way, then schedule it to run 1 minute in the
| future,
| >| it WILL run. But if I follow the same procedure and
| >| schedule the task to run, say, 8hrs in the future, the
| >| task fails. The time comes and goes and Scheduler
| doesn't
| >| even notice.
| >|
| >| I'm at a loss. I have no idea what the problem is or
| how
| >| to go about fixing it. Suggestions?
| >|
| >| -Jack
| >| (cross-posted to Security & Administration)
| >
| >
| >---
| >Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
| >Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
| >Version: 6.0.670 / Virus Database: 432 - Release Date:
| 27/04/2004
| >.
| >

 

[Guest]

Funny you should mention that. Norton's "NetDetect" is
scheduled to run "Every 5 minutes." I just noticed its
next scheduled run time was the same as the test-event I
created earlier. It probably collided with some of my
other events at some point.

Can't Scheduler handle simultaneous events?

Events fail even when there is no conflict.

-Jack

-----Original Message-----
Hi

You haven't two Scheduled Tasks set to startup at the same time?

--

Will Denny
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User


"Jack" <[email protected]> wrote in

message news:[email protected]...

 

[Kenny M]

Jack,

I've been chasing the same problem, which I would describe as "Scheduler
Coma" rather than "Scheduler Dead". My Task Scheduler service is set to
Automatic and is Started, but some days (I power off overnight) scheduled
tasks run, other days not. And you mention Norton's Live Update. Could you
answer a few questions for me?

1) How often do you reboot? (If you're using the PC as an alarm clock,
probably not daily).

2) Are you on dial-up or cable/DSL?

3) Does your Symantec NetDetect task say "Multiple Schedules"?

4) Have you ever looked at the Task Scheduler log 15+ minutes after a reboot
and NOT having started your ISP connection and observed only 2 runs of
NetDetect (and NO 3rd or subsequent runs) and the 2 runs are NOT 5 minutes
apart?

5) Does stopping and starting the Task Scheduler service fix the problem? It
does on my PC - until I reboot next morning.

 

[Kenny M]

Fail (with a message in the log), or just don't happen (with no message in
the log)?

"(e-mail address removed)" <email@suppressed> scribed thusly in
message

 

[Guest]

I'll tack a response about the log onto your message below.
In response to your questions:

1. I reboot very rarely. Not often enough to notice
correlation between Scheduler's functionality and
rebooting.

2. I have DSL service but I've got a router set up serving
my house, so my PC just sees a LAN. It gets an IP via
DHCP.

3. Yes. Symantec NetDetect has "Multiple schedule
times". Properties -> Schedule shows it running "Every 5
minute(s) from 12:49 PM for 24 hour(s) every day,
starting" on the day I installed it.

4. I'll keep an eye on NetDetect's behavior after reboot.
My log file is filled with hundreds of entries like this
that make the file nearly non-human-readable:
"IdleTask" (TaskId1)
Started 4/28/2004 1:40:37 AM
I don't know what that is. Why is "IdleTask" a scheduled
event? Sounds like a good name for a virus-type process;
it's innocuous and obscure.

5. I only found services.msc earlier today, thanks to this
forum. I decided against restarting the Task Scheduler
before hearing what the forum had to say about it, so I
could test suggestions in my system's "natural"
environment.

Hope this has been helpful.
-Jack

 

[Guest]

My tasks just don't happen. Failures of individual tasks
are not recorded in the log, just entries like this:

"Some tasks may not have executed at their scheduled times
between 4/26/2004 12:04:01 AM and 4/26/2004 9:45:01 AM,
either because the Task Scheduler Service was not running,
or because the computer was hibernating."

Those entries don't appear until hours after a task is
missed. My computer does not hibernate. And I don't
know what the significance of the time interval is.

While missed tasks are not logged, tasks that are run
manually are logged.
Very strange.

-Jack

 

[Kenny M]

Jack,

Let me tell you what I'm thinking, but I haven't finished testing yet.

a) If you look at the NetDetect task Schedule tab, there's a down arrow on
the right so you can see the other schedules in "multiple schedules". The
2nd NetDetect schedule on mine is "at user logon".

b) Testing shows that Task Scheduler won't start a repetitive task if the
previous repetition is still running.

c) If a task is scheduled to run at user logon and every 5 minutes (from an
independent start time, not user logon), then there's a statistical chance
the 2nd task will try to start while the 1st is still running.

d) Hypothesis: If this happens, NetDetect (not Task Manager) seems to go
into a coma.

e) If that is the case, the solution would seem to be to delete the "at user
logon" part of the "multiple schedule". For dial-up there's never going to
be a connection available at user logon, so it seems a bit pointless. Don't
know about DSL.

I don't understand routers, so I don't know what additional complication
that would add.

Can't help with the IdleTask log entry either - the only entries in my log
are the Task Scheduler start/stop and my actual scheduled tasks start/stop.

HTH, Kenny.

"(e-mail address removed)" <email@suppressed> scribed thusly in
message

 

[Kenny M]

Jack,

I've been testing this all day and can now reproduce the problem reliably.

We know the Symantec/Norton NetDetect scheduled task has multiple schedules:

1) Every 5 minutes until an internet connection is detected.
2) At user logon.

The problem occurs every time the PC is booted and the user waits more than
5 minutes before logging on (i.e. the Welcome Screen still showing), during
which period the "5 min" part of the task should have run.

Specifically, the problem is:

1) the "5 min" part of the NetDetect task doesn't run, or runs and fails,
but we don't know which, because there's no entry in the task log, and
2) the "user logon" part of the NetDetect task does run when the user logs
on, and
3) after that, no other tasks in Task Scheduler run.

I'm still trying to figure out whether this is a NetDetect problem or a Task
Scheduler problem.

The only solutions I have so far are:

1) log on immediately the Welcome Screen appears, or
2) after logon, use services.msc to stop & start the Task Scheduler service,
or
3) after logon, use Start > Control Panel > Performance & Maintenance >
Scheduled Tasks > Advanced > Stop Using Task Scheduler, followed by Start
Using Task Scheduler.

Solution 3 seems a little different than solution 2 in that it appears to
modify the registry to run "mstinit.exe /firstlogon" at (next?) startup. I
only know this because I have Mike Lin's StartupMonitor running.

Does anybody else have any thoughts?

BTW, your IdleTask log entries may have something to do with your other
scheduled tasks if you scheduled them to run when your PC was idle in the
individual Task Settings.

Kenny