Schtasks error

[Ross]

Greetings.

We have a server upon which no scheduled task will run. All of them
fail to start. I looked in the event log, there was no information
there. There is also no task scheduler log in the Windows directory.
When I try to edit the task, I get the following error:

General page initialization failed.
The specific error is:
0x80004005 Unspecified Error
An error has occurred attempting to retrieve task account
information. You may continue editing the task object, but will be
unable to change task account information.

I know there is a very similar error that has to do with shadow copy:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822904

I know the error is slightly different, but just for kicks, I tried
the fix listed there. It didn't correct the problem.

The RPC and Schedule services are running. I've checked out the
system user permissions that the Schedule service runs under, they
look okay. The user which the tasks run under is an administrator,
those permissions also look okay. I've tried scheduling new tasks
under different administrators, and I get the same message. I went as
far as removing the tasks and trying to re-add them, still to no
avail.

I've seen that error code before (0x80004005), but it has typically
been in a COM component calling context. Usually, that means one of
your COM components is unregistered or the registration has become
corrupt. I don't think I've seen this kind of error in a Windows
component context until today. Is it possible that a dependency of
Schedule has somehow become corrupt? If so, any ideas as to what
component would affect Schedule and little else? (To my knowledge,
Schedule is the only problem with this server.)

Has any one out there seen this before or have any ideas on what to
try next?

-Ross

 

[Ross]

I need to get some coffee. I forgot to mention: This is a Windows
Server 2003 box.

If you need more information about the box, let me know.

-Ross

 

[Swifty]

I know the error is slightly different, but just for kicks, I tried
the fix listed there. It didn't correct the problem.

Since you're in the market for fixes which might fix the problem, I've
had tasks refusing to start with no reason given (Win XP).

Most of my tasks are set to "Run only if logged on". By removing this
(which gets me to a password prompt), applying, then turning "Run
only..." back on again, the task started working again. It works the
other way around as well.

If it is safe to do so, using right-click then "Run" on each task proved
whether or not it could run, then shows whether or not it *will* run
after you've tried my trick.

Don't ask how I found this; it just seemed worth trying, and it worked
for me.

My problem (that causes this scheduled tasks problem) is some XP buffer
(which is supposed never to run out of space) is running out of space
since I updated something a couple of months ago.

 

[Jose]

Greetings.

We have a server upon which no scheduled task will run.  All of them
fail to start.  I looked in the event log, there was no information
there.  There is also no task scheduler log in the Windows directory.
When I try to edit the task, I get the following error:

General page initialization failed.
The specific error is:
0x80004005 Unspecified Error
An error has occurred attempting to retrieve task account
information.  You may continue editing the task object, but will be
unable to change task account information.

I know there is a very similar error that has to do with shadow copy:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822904

I know the error is slightly different, but just for kicks, I tried
the fix listed there.  It didn't correct the problem.

The RPC and Schedule services are running.  I've checked out the
system user permissions that the Schedule service runs under, they
look okay.  The user which the tasks run under is an administrator,
those permissions also look okay.  I've tried scheduling new tasks
under different administrators, and I get the same message.  I went as
far as removing the tasks and trying to re-add them, still to no
avail.

I've seen that error code before (0x80004005), but it has typically
been in a COM component calling context.  Usually, that means one of
your COM components is unregistered or the registration has become
corrupt.  I don't think I've seen this kind of error in a Windows
component context until today.  Is it possible that a dependency of
Schedule has somehow become corrupt?  If so, any ideas as to what
component would affect Schedule and little else?  (To my knowledge,
Schedule is the only problem with this server.)

Has any one out there seen this before or have any ideas on what to
try next?

-Ross

I am not sure about Windows Server (that would be a different forum)
but I am sure about Windows XP.

Are you saying that the Task Scheduler service is running and the log
file SchedLgU.txt does not exist in the Windows folder even if the
service is stopped/started manually?

You are unlikely to find useful information about afflicted STs in the
Event Viewer. The useful information will be in the log file.

 

[Jose]

Since you're in the market for fixes which might fix the problem, I've
had tasks refusing to start with no reason given (Win XP).

Most of my tasks are set to "Run only if logged on". By removing this
(which gets me to a password prompt), applying, then turning "Run
only..." back on again, the task started working again. It works the
other way around as well.

If it is safe to do so, using right-click then "Run" on each task proved
whether or not it could run, then shows whether or not it *will* run
after you've tried my trick.

Don't ask how I found this; it just seemed worth trying, and it worked
for me.

My problem (that causes this scheduled tasks problem) is some XP buffer
(which is supposed never to run out of space) is running out of space
since I updated something a couple of months ago.

If a ST will not run, there is always a reason given and the given
reason is in the log file which on most systems is:

c:\Windows\SchedLgU.Txt

What does it say about your afflicted STs?

If the log is too cluttered, stop the TS service, rename/delete the
log, restart the service, invoke your task, check the log and post
relevant messages that need clarification or resolution.

 

[Swifty]

If a ST will not run, there is always a reason given and the given
reason is in the log file which on most systems is:

c:\Windows\SchedLgU.Txt

What does it say about your afflicted STs?

That's really handy to know, thank you!

Unfortunately, it tells me nothing, because I was forced to reboot a
short while ago. This fixes most of my problems, and then that log soon
wraps around because I have a scheduled task running every 5 minutes (in
an attempt to catch the cause of the underlying problem; it must have
been something which has run since the last reboot, but before the
scheduled task stopped running).

 

[Ross]

Thanks for the suggestion, Steve. I'll try it today as it seems to be
a much more widespread problem than we previously thought.

Jose - there is no scheduled task log. It occurs to me that the
system user might not have credentials to write to the windows
directory (IE, our security policy is shooting us in the foot), but
then the problem would presumably be everywhere, not just on a handful
of servers. (Our security policy - really, the servers in general -
should be homogeneous. All of the servers are created from the same
image, get the same patches, windows updates, and so on.)

Could this also be a problem with the users themselves? The error
seems like it might be something corrupt with the user profiles, or
something wrong with how users are retrieved. The "unspecified" COM-
esque error makes me think something is wrong with the how, not the
what, but the task of determining where the problem resides is
daunting at best. Short of throwing on process explorer and crossing
my fingers, I'm not really sure how to start. I'm certainly open to
suggestions.

Thanks again,
Ross

 

[Ross]

Thanks for the suggestion, Steve.  I'll try it today as it seems to be
a much more widespread problem than we previously thought.

Jose - there is no scheduled task log.  It occurs to me that the
system user might not have credentials to write to the windows
directory (IE, our security policy is shooting us in the foot), but
then the problem would presumably be everywhere, not just on a handful
of servers.  (Our security policy - really, the servers in general -
should be homogeneous.  All of the servers are created from the same
image, get the same patches, windows updates, and so on.)

Could this also be a problem with the users themselves?  The error
seems like it might be something corrupt with the user profiles, or
something wrong with how users are retrieved.  The "unspecified" COM-
esque error makes me think something is wrong with the how, not the
what, but the task of determining where the problem resides is
daunting at best.  Short of throwing on process explorer and crossing
my fingers, I'm not really sure how to start.  I'm certainly open to
suggestions.

Thanks again,
Ross

That's really handy to know, thank you!

Unfortunately, it tells me nothing, because I was forced to reboot a
short while ago. This fixes most of my problems, and then that log soon
wraps around because I have a scheduled task running every 5 minutes (in
an attempt to catch the cause of the underlying problem; it must have
been something which has run since the last reboot, but before the
scheduled task stopped running).

No deal. Since user information can't be retrieved, I can't edit the
user information or whether or not it's run only if the user is logged
on.

Square one.

I'll keep picking away at it.

-Ross