Vista Tutorial - Task Scheduler Problem

Greetings,

I have created a task to start my Folding@Home client when the computer starts (the SMP client won't run as a service yet). The FAH client needs to run as admin, so I checked the "Run with highest privileges" box, enabled the option to run whether user is logged in or not and entered my user and password when prompted. If I run the task manually it starts and runs correctly.


When the computer is restarted, the client does not start and an error message is waiting in Task Scheduler as follows:

Event ID: 101
OP Code: 6619136
Error Value: 2147943726

When initially setting this up, I remember the error message saying something about a bad username/password. That isn't in the Task Scheduler history though. If I open the task and simply resave it (changing nothing, but entering username/password again), the task will start manually.

This is so close, but very frustrating that such a simple task won't quite work.

Anybody have any ideas?

Thanks, John

Hi there Purdue,

Maybe enter the user id/password like this in the task:

computername/administrator then password

Hope this helps.
Raj

Hi Raj!

Thanks for your reply.

That's a good idea, but when I checked I found that is the default.

While I was there, I got creative (but I didn't break anything.... yet).
I set the task to run "At Logon" of the same user rather than startup and set the system to autologon. The autologon worked like a champ, but the task is still being stubborn.

It seems like it's not saving the password, at least not beyond the current session. Very strange.

One more tidbit of new information, I found a different error message listed in the task status after it fails:
"Logon Failure: unknown username or bad password (0x8007052E)".
The error listed in my first post is whats recorded in the task history.

Let me know if you have any other thoughts and thanks for the help!

Best Regards, John

Hi John,
Have you seen this tutorial and log on as the real administrator then create the task and run it?

Administrator Account

Raj

Hi Raj,

Yup, tried that too. No dice. I turned it back off when it didn't help, but the account icon at the start screen remained. Maybe it isn't really disabled.

I did some more googling and found a thread at 2BrightSparks (maker of SyncBack) where sync jobs were failing the same way. One of the posters thought it is a Vista Home Premium bug that might be fixed in SP1. Didn't see any references to that error or the Task Scheduler in the update list though.

I'll keep playing with it, maybe I can find a way around it. I wonder if the commandline utility is available in Vista (like XP and Server2003)?

Thanks again, John

Hi PurdueEngr,

Please take a look at this pic. I created a basic task then noticed this default option named "Run only when user is logged on". Maybe you have that checked? Take a look at the pic



Raj

Hi Raj!

Great minds think alike

I did some experimentation this evening and found a combination that works! Since I changed the task to start when my user logs on, I selected the box you indicated and it runs as intended.

If Microsoft ever fixes the root cause of this problem, I will probably put it back the way it was. The program runs in a command prompt, and the other option hides it - a bonus considering this app runs on my kids' computer.

Thanks very much for your help!

John

Hi PurdueEngr!

Great to see you got this resolved! It's all a learning experience for me too! Now I wonder what the diff is between creating a "basic task" and creating "a task". I'll need to read up on that one.

Raj

For those of you who are having trouble with Vista Task Scheduler tasks not starting sometimes try the following:

Symptom:
Event ID: 101
OP Code: 6619136
Error Value: 2147943726

Possible Solution:
If RUN Whether User is Logged on or not option is used
Check the box on Do Not Store Password
Check Run at Highest Privileges
Make sure you got sufficient Admin rights for what your tasking.

I came across this solution on one of the backup vista forums.
I'll post it if I can find it again. I am sure you can research on the consequences of selecting Do Not Store Password on your own, but my understanding is you can't Task Schedule network CPUs if this option is selected.

Anyhow hope this works for ya