[SOLVED] Task Scheduler: Remote Computer Not Found AGAIN

Question

Updating to 2004 left me with broken task scheduler. I was able somehow to get it back by updating to 20H2 and running the last (after dozen of times before updating) sfc /scannow by miracle. I had no idea what fixed it but hey it was working so ok. NOW all of a sudden task scheduler is givin the SAME ERROR as before, AGAIN. It's unbelievable.

The last thing my PC has done that I can associate to this problem is a quality update for 20H2. I can't find absolutely nothing on the internet. I have performed all the scannow and DISM stuff many times now. No issues have been found. I have also used a restore point previous the last couple windows updates but it didn't work.

Initially, by trying to start the "schedule" service it reported the "1067: the process terminated unexpectedly" error, so the service won't start. Now the service starts but when openin task scheduler the "remote computer not found" message appears, and task scheduler won't be able to read anything from my PC. (The remote computer of course is the local one).

Startup for the "schedule" service is set to automatic and has never been changed.

Task scheduler is inaccessible even through elevated CMD, as typing "schtasks" or "schtasks /query" do both result in "wrong network address".

This is RIDICULOUS. I really hope Microsoft can do something about this and stop messing up with my PC.

[SOLUTION] Recap: my Task Scheduler service wouldn't automatically start even though the service startup was set to automatic both in Services and Registry. If I tried manually starting it I would get either errors (see above) or fake starts (the service resulted as running but would not be picked up as such by e.g. Disk Defragmentation Utility).

While a commonly proposed solution was adding a "start" key in the registry to set the automatic service startup [value: 2] (in my case it was already present), I edited the value to 3 [manual startup] (since the option to change the startup behaviour is greyed out in Services). So now my Task Scheduler service is set to manual startup and it starts up at boot and everything related to it works as intended (at least for now).

Answer 1

Dear fra.carol,a suggestion is to try to remove the latest update that has been causing you problems.

1. Press the “Win ​​+ i” keys together to access the Windows 10 “Settings”;
2. In the opened window, click on “Update and security”;
3. On the new screen, click on “View update history”;
4. Then, click on “Uninstall updates”;
5. Select the desired update and click “Uninstall”
6. Wait for the process to complete and restart your computer.

If this does not resolve, I recommend the repair using a Windows 10 media, please follow the steps below:

I believe you already have a DVD or Pendrive with Windows 10, I will list other steps that may help you. Even if I have a DVD or Pendrive, I will go through the procedures to create a boot device and start it through your computer to try to recover the system.

Download the tool according to the installed Windows 10 architecture. On here: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=691209

Run the downloaded setup and click Create installation media for another computer;

Select the Language, then select the edition and architecture according to the installed Windows 10;

Connect the Pen Drive;

Click Next;

Select the USB Flash Drive option and click Next;

Click Finish;

Boot with the Pen Drive; If you don't know how to access here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/cri...

When the installation window appears, click Repair your computer;

Click Troubleshooting> Advanced Options;

Among the options presented, follow the procedures below:

Access the System in Safe Mode (Diagnostic Mode):

Click Troubleshooting> Advanced Options> Startup Settings> click Restart> press the 5 or F5 key to access Safe Mode with Networking.

Redoing the Windows 10 startup files:

Click on Troubleshooting> Advanced Options> Command Prompt> enter your Account and enter the commands:

CHKDSK /R /F X: [Enter]

Bootrec /Scanos [Enter]

Bootrec /Rebuildbcd [Enter]

Bootrec /Fixmbr [Enter]

Bootrec /Fixboot [Enter]

Restore the System by deleting everything:

Troubleshooting> Restore your PC> Remove Everything.

Note: Before performing the Restore System procedure by deleting everything, we advise you to make a backup of your data. You can connect your hard drive to another computer and transfer your personal files.

I hope this helps, even more!

Answer 2

Dear LuizCruz, before proceeding with the "create an installation media for another computer" i chose "upgrade this pc now", just to give it a shot. Even though my pc was already on the latest windows version available, the "update" took place successfully, though it did not solve my issue. Then i tried many tike sscannow and DISM commands but with no luck.

So i proceeded with the repair procedure by booting from a usb installation media, though i did not understand how to, from the link you provided. Since mine is a dell machine, i used the one-time boot (or something like that) procedure and successfully selected my usb drive, though the installation dialog would not look like what you had described, so i didn't proceed. After booting back again to the OS, i tried opening task scheduler and now it works as intended (spoiler alert, i have absolutely no idea why).

Before being able to boot to the usb drive, i had shut down (not restarted) and powered up the pc to try to boot to the usb drive (but it would not pick it up) and i noticed that while booting to the os (not usb) one of those times the lockscreen background had changed. The story gets kinda complicated because it's been months now since Spotlight has stopped working on my pc, and i currently had an image chosen from the standard ones in settings, as nor spotlight nor one of my personal images would load anyomore (instead i get a blank background).

In the past weeks i've tried following some of the many guides online that tell how to fix spotlight; they involve running some powershell stuff etc. Do you think the spotlight thing and the task scheduler thing might be correlated??

This is melting me down.

Thank you again for your time.

EDIT!!!!!! I HAVE RESTARTED MY PC ONE TIME AND THE "REMOTE COMPUTER NOT FOUND" MESSAGE IS BACK AGAIN!!!!

Answer 3

Dear fra.carol,in this case, I recommend that you make a backup of your personal files and do a clean installation of Windows, formatting completely.

I've seen this error in the task scheduler a few times and the solution was just to change the registry key as it was informed in the first procedure, as we were unable to solve it this way, a clean installation will be the solution.

To create the USB flash drive with Windows 10, follow the steps in the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ae0MAWxnX6Y&amp...

To start the boot from the flash drive, you must access the Bios by pressing f2 when starting and leaving the settings as follows:

1 –Secure Boot: Disable.

2 - Load Legacy Option Rom: Disable.

3 - Boot List Option: UEFI.

Find an option similar to "Boot priority" and select the thumb drive that contains Windows 10, and second leave the HD.

I hope this helps you, even more!

Answer 4

Dear LuizScruz, I really appreciate your patience. Thank you for your suggestions.

As I was reading about your past experience about the regedit trick, I had an idea. Kinda. Since the value of the "start" key was already set to 2 (automatic service startup), I thought that it would have been interesting to try setting a different value for that key and then set it back to 2.

I looked on the internet for the correct values to use, and I found this:

https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/27218159/Enable-Task-Scheduler-From-Registry.html

So, I chose the value of 3 (manual service startup) and applied the edit. Before rebooting, I checked that the startup setting of the "schedule" service was set to manual, and it was. Then I rebooted and opened Services: the Schedule service was set to manual startup and it was running! Before, the startup was set to automatic but it wouldn't start at boot, nor it would be recognised as running (for example by the defrag utility) even if I had started it from the Services app or from elevated CMD (which both would say that it was running).

Now I really need to go to bed so I won't do any further investigation, for now. I don't think this trick actually fixes my OS, though it certainly seems to do something. I suppose it should be possible to have the Schedule service startup set to automatic and get it running but I don't know if it would be at least OK to leave it on manual, since that way it works.

Thank you for your time.

Answer 5

Dear fra.carol,I understand that leaving as "Manual" in services solved the problem partially.

If you have any questions, I am available.

Have a great day and even more!