Simple Automation Already on Your Computer Continued
Last week I
"http://blog.rjmolesa.com/index.php/archives/2006/03/01/simple-automation-already-on-your-computer/">
explained how to set up an automated way to shutdown your
computer. The automation is performed using a built-in tool of
Windows(r) called “Scheduled Tasks”. You could
automate any job, task, or program execution using the example as
a base.
This week I'm going to cover some basics of trouble-shooting
your “Scheduled Tasks” in order to make sure
they're running properly and what to do if they aren't
running as you have defined them to.
First of all I'm using an article by Microsoft(r) as a base
for my discussion. You can find that article at
"http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308558/en-us">http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308558/en-us
if you'd like to read what they have to say about it.
If you followed last week's article but it didn't work
for you, follow the steps below to help determine what went
wrong.
-
Go to Start->All Programs->Accessories->System
Tools->Scheduled Tasks and click open “Scheduled
Tasks” -
Maximize the window if it isn't by default
-
Go to the “View” menu and select View->Details
-
Now you should have “Name”,
“Schedule”, “Next Run Time”,
“Last run Time”, “Status”,
“Last Result”, and “Creator” columns
displayed at the top of the page. -
Take a look at the contents of these columns particularly the
“Last Run Time” column. This will tell you the
last time the command was ran. Also look at the column
“Last Result”. This column display a code
detailing the result of the last run. If is displays anything
other than 0×0 then it did not run successfully. The possible
result codes that will be displayed here are: -
0×0 - The operation completed successfully.
-
0×1 - An incorrect function was called or an unknown
function was called. -
0×2 - The environment is incorrect.
-
The “Status” column also display the current or
previous status of the scheduled task. The possible messages
displayed here are: -
Blank - The task is not running, or it ran and was
successful. -
Running - The task is currently running.
-
Missed - One or more attempts to run this task was
missed. -
Could Not Start - The most recent attempt to start the
task did not work. -
If you see anything other than 0×0 displayed in “Last
Result” and Blank or Running displayed in
“Status” then something has gone wrong. Here are
some things to check.
First, check that the “Scheduled Task” is enabled. Do
this by Right-clicking the “Scheduled Task” and open
it's “Properties”. On the “Tasks” tab
make sure the check box at the bottom “Enabled (scheduled
tasks runs at specified time)” is checked.
Second, check to make sure that the “Scheduled Tasks”
service is running. A service are programs that run in the
background and dutifully do their job. To check this go to
Start->Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Services.
Locate “Task Scheduler” in that list of services.
Right-click it and click “Properties”. This will
display information about the “Task Scheduler”
service. On the “General” tab make sure that
“Startup type:” is set to “Automatic”.
Check that the “Service Status:” states that it is
“Started” if it isn't click the
“Start” button. Once all this checks out click
“Ok” to close the properties for “Task
Scheduler”. Now close the “Services” window.
Third, you can view the log file that “Scheduled
Tasks” creates by opening the file located at
c:\windows\SchedLgU.txt. This file just shows the status of each
scheduled command and when it was last run.
One thing I have noticed with my laptop is that is it is in
standby mode then the scheduled task will not run at all. So no
error information will be displayed in the
“Properties” for that task, nor will the log file
show anything. In fact if you examine the log, you will not see
any attempts to run that task on those dates and times while it
was in standby mode. So if everything has checked out, you
didn't see any error messages and the “Last
Result” displays 0×0, then it's possible that your
computer is going in standby or to sleep at which time it
doesn't even run the commands. Like always I hope this helps,
and please drop me a line sometime and let me know that this
article has been useful to you.
