Task Scheduler isn't opening a program

Question

So I've set task scheduler to open a browser at a certain time, and it does work when I test it out by setting the start up 2 minutes later. Say it's 4:15pm and I set it to pop up at 4:17pm- it does pop up at 4:17pm. But when I set it for the actual time I want it, which would be 5:45am the next day, it doesn't pop up. And I've set the scheduler to be on "daily" as well.

Is it because task scheduler went inactive during the time it was waiting for the time?

Answer 1

Your pc might be going into sleep mode.

Enable this setting.

Also enable task history.

Then you can select each tasks history tab to see what the task scheduler does with the task.

I've set the scheduler to be on "daily" as well.

You did that for the task that you defined, and not something with the task scheduler service itself, correct?

Answer 2

For testing this issue, I added logging to the scheduled task. I built a .bat file to launch a browser and saved in my C:\Scripts folder.

@echo %date% %time% Start
start msedge http://www.eagl.org
@echo %date% %time% End

I configured the task to run cmd.exe with these arguments.

/c c:\Scripts\LaunchEdge.bat 1 >> c:\Scripts\LaunchEdge.log 2>&1

It looks like this.

I set the task to run at 8:40am and I locked my pc.

When I subsequently unlocked my pc I saw that the task scheduler launched it at 8:40 and I saw that the tab was opened.

In the log file I see the timestamps.

Next I set the task to run at 8:55. This time I closed the lid on my laptop. I have configured my pc to hibernate when I do that.

I opened it back up at 9:00am.

But it took 6 minutes for the task scheduler to recognize that the launch was missed. That was recorded in the history and the log file.

Here is how I configured the task. Note that I do not have Run with highest privileges checked.

I would suggest that you review the settings and implement logging so that you easily see if the task is being launched and when.

One more tool that I can offer is a Powershell script that I wrote several years ago named TaskWatcher.ps1. Modify it to reference the name of your task.

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/c0be6139-5198-46b2-9135-4e6dae49adaa/scheduled-task-firing-on-the-wrong-day-consistently?forum=winserver8gen

It will monitor the state and note the last and next run times. If the task runs quickly, it won't catch the Running state. If your pc sleeps or hibernates, it will detect that the TOD clock has changed.