HELP with scheduled tasks

[jhleslie]

Hello!

I have some important files on my computer that need backing up daily,
there is a hard disk attached and a very nice young man created a
thing called BACKUP.BAT which works perfectly. It took him about 45
seconds of furious typing. It copies everything from my computer to
the hard disk, all the files that have changed, or been created,
perfectly. All I have to do is double click it.

I wanted this to happen at the same time every day so the nice young
man said as he left the office 'just set up scheduled tasks'. I have
been trying to do this ever since but it wouldn't run, then
eventually, acting on a hunch, I discovered that it is because I don't
have a password set on my computer. Of course the stupid thing doesn't
tell you that is the problem! I don't have a password set because I
want to come in in the morning, turn it on then make a cup of tea and
when I come back the computer is started. If the password is set I
then have to type it in and wait another minute for it to finish
starting.

So! If you are still awake after all of that; the questions are; and
you only need to answer one of them.
How can I make this BACKUP.BAT run each day without using Scheduled
Tasks?
** OR **
How can I make scheduled tasks work without having a password set?

On a Mac that I used, a long long time ago, I remember that there was
a folder called Startup Items and anything that was in that folder ran
when the computer started. I only remember because I put aliases of my
applications in there and after I had made my cup of tea, the computer
had started and my applications were up and running, including
Outlook.

Thanks in advance!

Julie

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Hello!

I have some important files on my computer that need backing up daily,
there is a hard disk attached and a very nice young man created a
thing called BACKUP.BAT which works perfectly. It took him about 45
seconds of furious typing. It copies everything from my computer to
the hard disk, all the files that have changed, or been created,
perfectly. All I have to do is double click it.

I wanted this to happen at the same time every day so the nice young
man said as he left the office 'just set up scheduled tasks'. I have
been trying to do this ever since but it wouldn't run, then
eventually, acting on a hunch, I discovered that it is because I don't
have a password set on my computer. Of course the stupid thing doesn't
tell you that is the problem! I don't have a password set because I
want to come in in the morning, turn it on then make a cup of tea and
when I come back the computer is started. If the password is set I
then have to type it in and wait another minute for it to finish
starting.

So! If you are still awake after all of that; the questions are; and
you only need to answer one of them.
How can I make this BACKUP.BAT run each day without using Scheduled
Tasks?
** OR **
How can I make scheduled tasks work without having a password set?

On a Mac that I used, a long long time ago, I remember that there was
a folder called Startup Items and anything that was in that folder ran
when the computer started. I only remember because I put aliases of my
applications in there and after I had made my cup of tea, the computer
had started and my applications were up and running, including
Outlook.

Thanks in advance!

Julie

Your best bet is to do this:
1. Create an new account, e.g. "Schedule".
2. Give it a password.
3. Make it a member of the Administrators group.
4. Use it to run all your scheduled tasks.
This account will now be independent of anything you do to your everyday
logon account. Nice'n'simple!

 

[jhleslie]

Your best bet is to do this:
1. Create an new account, e.g. "Schedule".
2. Give it a password.
3. Make it a member of the Administrators group.
4. Use it to run all your scheduled tasks.
This account will now be independent of anything you do to your everyday
logon account. Nice'n'simple!

That's brilliant, thanks for replying so quickly. If I do that will
the computer stop half way through startup and ask which user to load
(because then there will be two users), so I have to choose myself
from the two users, and then wait another minute whilst it finishes
the startup?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Your best bet is to do this:
1. Create an new account, e.g. "Schedule".
2. Give it a password.
3. Make it a member of the Administrators group.
4. Use it to run all your scheduled tasks.
This account will now be independent of anything you do to your everyday
logon account. Nice'n'simple!

That's brilliant, thanks for replying so quickly. If I do that will
the computer stop half way through startup and ask which user to load
(because then there will be two users), so I have to choose myself
from the two users, and then wait another minute whilst it finishes
the startup?

================

When you give it a try then you will immediately see that scheduled tasks
run in their own environment, independently of any foreground activities.
They are, in fact, invisible when scheduled to run under an account other
than the one used for the foreground session.

 

[jhleslie]

That's brilliant, thanks for replying so quickly. If I do that will
the computer stop half way through startup and ask which user to load
(because then there will be two users), so I have to choose myself
from the two users, and then wait another minute whilst it finishes
the startup?

================

When you give it a try then you will immediately see that scheduled tasks
run in their own environment, independently of any foreground activities.
They are, in fact, invisible when scheduled to run under an account other
than the one used for the foreground session.

Thanks again. I've done what you said and created a new user. But
before I just switched the computer on and when I came back it was
ready to use (there was only one user), now it gets half way through
startup and stops at the welcome screen because now there are two
users and I have to choose one.

To put it another way, because I perhaps haven't expressed myself
clearly. I don't want to see the welcome screen, I don't normally get
that because there is one user with no password. I just start the
computer up and by the time I get back to my desk it has finished all
it's messing about and it is ready to use.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Thanks again. I've done what you said and created a new user. But
before I just switched the computer on and when I came back it was
ready to use (there was only one user), now it gets half way through
startup and stops at the welcome screen because now there are two
users and I have to choose one.

To put it another way, because I perhaps haven't expressed myself
clearly. I don't want to see the welcome screen, I don't normally get
that because there is one user with no password. I just start the
computer up and by the time I get back to my desk it has finished all
it's messing about and it is ready to use.

This is a completely separate issue. Previously Windows sailed through the
logon process because there was only a single user, one without a password.
Now you have two users, and Windows needs to know which one you wish to use.
You either tell it during the logon process (by clicking the desired
account), or you preset it like so:
- Click Start / run
- Type this command:
control userpasswords2{OK}
- Click your preferred account.
- Untick the box that requires users to enter a password.
- Click OK and enter your password when prompted (or leave it blank if
desired).
From now on Windows will log you on automatically.

 

[jhleslie]

This is a completely separate issue. Previously Windows sailed through the
logon process because there was only a single user, one without a password.
Now you have two users, and Windows needs to know which one you wish to use.
You either tell it during the logon process (by clicking the desired
account), or you preset it like so:
- Click Start / run
- Type this command:
   control userpasswords2{OK}
- Click your preferred account.
- Untick the box that requires users to enter a password.
- Click OK and enter your password when prompted (or leave it blank if
desired).
From now on Windows will log you on automatically.

Perfecto! You are a clever boy! Thanks very much, I am going to make
it startup all my applications so they are ready before I sit down.
Thanks, Julie

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Perfecto! You are a clever boy! Thanks very much, I am going to make
it startup all my applications so they are ready before I sit down.
Thanks, Julie

=============

If you intend to use the Task Scheduler to launch your applications then
you're going down the wrong track. As I said before, scheduled tasks run in
the background and are often invisible to you, so what's the point of
launching them? Instead you should put their shortcuts into your Startup
folder.

 

[HeyBub]

Hello!

I have some important files on my computer that need backing up daily,
there is a hard disk attached and a very nice young man created a
thing called BACKUP.BAT which works perfectly. It took him about 45
seconds of furious typing. It copies everything from my computer to
the hard disk, all the files that have changed, or been created,
perfectly. All I have to do is double click it.

I wanted this to happen at the same time every day so the nice young
man said as he left the office 'just set up scheduled tasks'. I have
been trying to do this ever since but it wouldn't run, then
eventually, acting on a hunch, I discovered that it is because I don't
have a password set on my computer. Of course the stupid thing doesn't
tell you that is the problem! I don't have a password set because I
want to come in in the morning, turn it on then make a cup of tea and
when I come back the computer is started. If the password is set I
then have to type it in and wait another minute for it to finish
starting.

So! If you are still awake after all of that; the questions are; and
you only need to answer one of them.
How can I make this BACKUP.BAT run each day without using Scheduled
Tasks?
** OR **
How can I make scheduled tasks work without having a password set?

On a Mac that I used, a long long time ago, I remember that there was
a folder called Startup Items and anything that was in that folder ran
when the computer started. I only remember because I put aliases of my
applications in there and after I had made my cup of tea, the computer
had started and my applications were up and running, including
Outlook.

Thanks in advance!

Julie

I thought the password requirement for a logged-in user in order to invoke a
scheduled task had been corrected with SP1 several years ago? It certainly
isn't necessary on my machine.

What version of XP are you running?

 

[jhleslie]

Perfecto!  You are a clever boy!  Thanks very much, I am going to make
it startup all my applications so they are ready before I sit down.
Thanks, Julie

=============

If you intend to use the Task Scheduler to launch your applications then
you're going down the wrong track. As I said before, scheduled tasks run in
the background and are often invisible to you, so what's the point of
launching them? Instead you should put their shortcuts into your Startup
folder.

Haha! That's two things I have learnt today... I didn't know that
there was a startup folder.
I have eventually found it, Microsoft doesn't like to make these thing
easy does it?
I've been using this PC for 4 years now, previously I had a Mac
running OS9, it is still here beside me, things like this were so easy
in the old days. The thing that really surprises me is that the
ancient Mac, running OS9 and a Illustrator, Photoshop etc is so much
faster than the PC. I mean the Mac, when I have several applications
open, switches between them instantaneously it also launches
Illustrator in under 5 seconds whereas the PC takes around a 45
seconds. I changed to the PC because OS10 on the Mac was truly awful.
I would be using the Mac today if it were not for the fact that I need
all the new versions of programs and 95% of the Internet won't work
properly.
Soz! I am ranting!
Thanks again.
Julie

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I thought the password requirement for a logged-in user in order to invoke
a scheduled task had been corrected with SP1 several years ago? It
certainly isn't necessary on my machine.

What version of XP are you running?

The password requirement is not a bug that needs "correcting" - it is there
by design.