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Windows 7

Using the Windows 7 Task Scheduler (part 2) - Creating a Task

3/18/2011 6:01:08 PM
To begin creating a new task, select the folder in the console tree where you want the task to reside. If you need to create a new folder for this purpose, right-click the folder's parent in the console tree and choose New Folder from the shortcut menu.

You can create a new task in the Scheduled Tasks snap-in either by using a wizard or by filling out the Create Task dialog box. The wizard, which you launch by choosing Create Basic Task (in the action pane or from the Action menu), is ideal for time-triggered tasks involving a single action. It's also fine for setting up a task to run when you log on or when Windows starts. For a more complex task definition, you'll need to work through the Create Task dialog box. Select the folder where you want the task to appear (in the console tree), and then choose Create Task in the action pane or from the Action menu.

The one required entry on the General tab is a name for the task; everything else is optional. The task's author is you (you can't change that), and unless you specify otherwise, the task will run in your own security context. If you want it to run in the security context of a different user or group, click Change User Or Group and fill out the ensuing dialog box.

Regardless of which user's security context the task is to run in, you have the option of allowing the task to run whether or not that user is logged on. If you select Run Whether User Is Logged On Or Not, you will be prompted for the user's password when you fiish creating the task. If you don't happen to have that password, you can select Do Not Store Password. As the text beside this check box indicates, the task will have access to local resources only.

1. Setting Up a Task's Trigger or Triggers

Tasks can be triggered in the following ways:

  • On a schedule

  • At logon

  • At startup

  • On idle

  • On an event

  • At task creation or modification

  • On connection to a user session

  • On disconnection from a user session

  • On workstation lock

  • On workstation unlock

You can establish zero, one, or several triggers for a task. If you don't set any triggers, you can still run the task on demand (unless you clear the Allow Task To Be Run On Demand check box on the Settings tab of the Create Task dialog box). This gives you a way to test a new task before committing it to a schedule, for example. If you set multiple triggers, the task runs when any one of the triggers occurs.

To set up a trigger, click the Triggers tab in the Create Task dialog box, and then click New. In the New Trigger dialog box that appears (shown in Figure 4), choose the type of trigger you want from the Begin The Task drop-down list.

Figure 4. A task can have zero, one, or several triggers. Advanced Settings options let you set delay, repeat, and expiration parameters.


Note the Advanced Settings options at the bottom of the dialog box shown in Figure 22-11. These choices—which let you establish delay, repeat, and expiration parameters (among other things)—are not so easy to find when you're reviewing a task that you or someone else has already created. They don't appear in the read-only version of a task's properties, and if you reopen the read/write version of the properties dialog box, you'll need to select a trigger (on the Triggers tab) and click Edit to see or change the advanced options.

  • Triggering a task on schedule Time-triggered tasks can be set to run once or to recur at regular intervals. The choices are probably self-explanatory, with the possible exception of the Synchronize Across Time Zones check box. Time triggers are governed by the clock of the machine on which the task is to run, unless you select this check box—in which case, they are triggered by Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). You might want to go with UTC if you're trying to coordinate time-triggered tasks on multiple machines in multiple time zones.

  • Triggering a task at logon Logon tasks can be set for any user or a specific user or user group. If the user whose logon has triggered the task is not the user in whose security context the task is running, the task will be noninteractive—in other words, essentially invisible. (The user can note the presence of the task—and terminate it—by running Windows Task Manager, going to the Processes tab, clicking Show Processes From All Users, and answering the UAC prompt.)

  • Triggering a task at startup If you set a task to be triggered at startup, the trigger takes effect when you start your own computer but before you log on. Therefore, if you intend for the task to run on your own system, be sure to choose Run Whether User Is Logged On Or Not on the General tab of the Create Task dialog box. Otherwise, the task will never run.

    If you use the Change User Or Group button on the General tab to specify another user on your domain, and you choose Run Only When User Is Logged On, the startup-triggered task will run on the remote system when you restart your own, provided the specified user actually is logged on.

  • Triggering a task on idle If you set a task to be triggered when your computer is idle, you should also go to the Conditions tab of the Create Task dialog box to specify what you mean by "idle."

    Note that you need to set an idle trigger on the Triggers tab only if idleness is the only trigger you want to use. If you're setting one or more other triggers but you want to ensure that the task starts only when the computer is idle, select Start The Task Only If The Computer Is Idle For on the Conditions tab and specify the time period in the field to the right.

  • Using an event to trigger a task Anything that generates an item in an event log can serve as a task trigger. The simplest way to use this feature is to launch Event Viewer (Eventvwr.msc), find the event that you want to use as a trigger, right-click it in Event Viewer, and choose Attach Task To This Event. This action launches the Create Basic Task wizard, with the trigger portion of the wizard already filled out. The new task appears in a folder called Event Viewer Tasks (newly created for you if it doesn't already exist), and you can modify it if needed by selecting it there and opening its properties dialog box.

  • Triggering at task creation or modification The option to trigger a task at task creation or modification gives you an easy way to make a task run the moment you finish setting it up the first time or editing it subsequently. You can use this setting for testing purposes, or by combining it with other triggers you can use it to make a task run immediately as well as subsequently.

  • Triggering a task at user connection or disconnection The options On Connection To A User Session and On Disconnect From A User Session give you some flexible ways to set tasks running in response to user activities. Option buttons associated with these choices let you specify whether the settings apply to any user or to a particular user or group. Additional options make the trigger apply to remote connections and disconnections or to local connections and disconnections. Setting a trigger to a particular user on the local computer, for example, would enable you to run a task in response to that user's connection via Remote Desktop Connection or the Switch User command.

  • Triggering a task at workstation lock or unlock Like several other triggering choices, the On Workstation Lock and On Workstation Unlock options can be configured to apply to a particular user or group or to anyone who locks or unlocks the computer.

2. Setting Up a Task's Action or Actions

Besides the name of the task (which you supply on the General tab of the Create Task dialog box), the only other task parameter you must provide is the action or actions the task is supposed to perform. This you do by clicking New on the Actions tab and filling out the rest of the dialog box. Three types of actions are possible:

  • Start A Program

  • Send An E-Mail

  • Display A Message

You can specify one or several actions. Multiple actions are carried out sequentially, with each new action beginning when the previous one has completed.

The Start A Program option (shown in the New Action dialog box on the next page) can be applied to anything that Windows can execute—a Windows program, a batch program or script, a document associated with a program, or a shortcut. You can use the Browse button to simplify entry of long path specifications, add command-line parameters for your executable in the Add Arguments box, and specify a start-in folder for the executable. If your program needs elevated privileges to run successfully, be sure that you have selected Run With Highest Privileges, on the General tab of the Create Task dialog box.



If you choose to send an e-mail, Task Scheduler will require the address of your outbound (SMTP) server. If you opt for a message, the dialog box will provide fields for the window title and message text. The Send An E-Mail and Display A Message options are not available for tasks set to run on Windows XP, Windows 2000, or Windows Server 2003.

3. Starting and Running a Task Only If the Computer Is Idle

On the Conditions tab of the Create Task dialog box (shown in Figure 5), you can require that the computer be idle for a specified period of time before a triggered task can begin. To do this, select Start The Task Only If The Computer Is Idle For and specify the time period in the field to the right. Other check boxes in the Idle section of the Conditions tab let you specify what should happen if the task has begun during a required idle period but the computer subsequently becomes active again.

Task Scheduler defines idleness as follows:

  • If a screen saver is running, the computer is presumed to be idle.

  • If a screen saver is not running, the system checks for idleness every 15 minutes, considering the machine to be idle if there has been no keyboard or mouse input during that interval and if the disk I/O and CPU usage figures were at 0 percent for 90 percent of that time.

In addition to specifying a required period of idleness, you can also tell Windows to wait some period of time after a task has been triggered before beginning to determine whether the computer is idle. Clearly, adjusting the idle parameters is a bit of an art; if you have precise requirements for some reason, you might need to experiment and test to get things just the way you want them.

Figure 5. You can configure a task to run only when the computer is idle, only when it's running on AC power, or only when it's connected to a network.


4. Requiring AC Power

If you're setting up a task to run on a portable computer, consider whether you want the task to begin running while the computer is running on battery power. If you do not, select Start The Task Only If The Computer Is On AC Power, in the Power section of the Conditions tab. A second check box below this one lets you decide whether the task, once begun, should cease if the computer switches to battery power.

5. Waking the Computer to Run a Task

If it's essential that your task run at some particular time, whether or not the computer is asleep, be sure to select Wake The Computer To Run This Task on the Conditions tab. Once aroused, the computer will then perform whatever duties you've assigned, returning to sleep on completion in accordance with whatever power plan is in effect.

If you do not want to disturb your computer's rest, you might want to stipulate that the task run as soon as possible after the machine awakes. You can do that by selecting Run Task As Soon As Possible After A Scheduled Start Is Missed on the Settings tab of the Create Task dialog box.

6. Requiring a Network Connection

If your task requires access to network resources, be sure to select Start Only If The Following Network Connection Is Available on the Conditions tab. Then use the drop-down list directly below this check box to specify which network connection is required. You might want to use this option in conjunction with Run Task As Soon As Possible After A Scheduled Start Is Missed, a check box on the Settings tab.

The option to require a network connection is not available for tasks set to run on Windows XP, Windows 2000, or Windows Server 2003.

7. Running a Task on Demand

One of the small but handy features in the Windows 7 Task Scheduler is the ability for scheduled tasks to be run on demand, as well as in response to various time or event triggers. You can turn this feature off for a task by clearing the Allow Task To Be Run On Demand check box on the Settings tab. But unless you're concerned that another user with access to your system might run a task against your wishes, it's hard to imagine why you would want to disallow on-demand execution.

To run a task on demand, assuming you have not disallowed it, locate the task's folder in the console tree, right-click the task in Task Scheduler's upper pane, and choose Run from the shortcut menu.

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