I need more info on Scheduled Tasks. My back up software is not working. I get error logs. I need more examples to make it work.1 person needs an answerI do too

That is not much information to go on. Here are some unattractive notes I have about scheduled tasks that may help you get started. Someday I must make them more presentable: It is strongly suggested that the task be assigned to a user that has a password (using the Administrator account is not recommended), so create a new user with a password just for tasks or add a password to your account if needed. You can temporarily assign yourself a password to test and worry about this later. Right now you just need to see if your ST mechanism is working properly.If you set up the task to use the same account you log in with, you will usually be able to see the task launch and start running while you are using the computer. This is helpful to see the task run in front of your eyeballs.If you set up the task to use a different account than the one you log in with the task should still run (and you will not see it), but for testing, use your own login account and then change the account the task uses later when you are sure it all works.If you try to create a new task using an account that does not have a password you will get this error trying to create the task:The new task has been created, but may not run because the account information could not be set. The specific error is 0x80070005: Access is denied. The task will still be created, but will not run properly. There is a way around this, but get this working first to be sure your Scheduled Task mechanism is not afflicted. Stop the Task Scheduler service. Click Start, Settings, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Service and locate the Task Scheduler Service and stop it.Delete or rename the probably cluttered Scheduled Task log file which is usually found here: c:\windows\schedlgu.txt Restart the Task Scheduler service to create a new log (it is just a text file) and verify that a new log file has been created and looks something like this:"Task Scheduler Service"Started at 1/1/2010 6:26:43 AM[ ***** Most recent entry is above this line ***** ] Navigate to the c:\windows\tasks folder to see all your tasks. Expand the explorer window so you can see all the columns of interest dragging the column headings to see each column.The Next Run Time, Last Run Time, Status and Last Results columns are of interest. You can also click Advanced and view the ST log file from here.Choose to Add Scheduled Task. Create a new task to run Command Prompt once, right now. If you don't have a PW on your account, you will get an error trying to create it (more on that later). The new task will still be created, but it will never run. Assign a password to your account at least temporarily to test your Scheduled Task mechanism.Having temporarily assigned your login account a password, adjust the new Scheduled Task you created to run the Command Prompt so it uses the same account and password you used to login to Windows and the task should configure and save with no errors.Right click the new Command Prompt task and choose Run and a command window should open immediately. If not, something is wrong. If yes, your mechanism is sound. Look in the log file to see your results. Since the Command Prompt task is set up to run under your account, this is why you will see the Command Prompt window open right away. If you configured the task to use some other account (with a password of course), the Command Prompt task would run under that users name (not yours) and you would not see the Command Prompt window open, but the task would be running and you can see it in Task Manager. This way you know your ST mechanism is working.Now that you know how to run tasks manually, know how to observe the information columns, know how to remove the log file, you can apply this knowledge to your new task. Be sure the Task Scheduler service is running again if you stop it to remove the log file while testing.Assign Properties to your new or troublesome task that match your login (at least for testing), observe the columns, and the log. If your task fails to run manually, the errors in the log file are the clues to what to do next. Always try to go back to your simple Command Prompt task that you created before to make sure the ST mechanism works properly - you know for sure that one works. Then apply your knowledge to get your new task working.You can change the task Properties to use your login account and password since you know it works properly on the Command Prompt task. If you change your new task and choose to run it and are logged in with the same account, you should see your task run. When you are satisfied it is working properly, you probably don't want to have it interrupt you while you are logged in, so change the Properties back to use some other user account login that has a password that you created just to run your scheduled tasks.Some tasks that are created by other applications will use the special account NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM. This account has no password and is usually used for system oriented tasks but you will only be able to see it running when using Task Manager.If you try to manually run a ST like this, you will not see it open any window to run but you will see it running in Task Manager and in the log file. If you think you want to see it actually run, change the Properties to use your account and password, troubleshoot the task, then change the Properties back and test it again.These kinds of tasks may run just fine, but you will only be able to tell by the log file, looking in Task Manager or the status columns in the tasks folder. If you temporarily change the task to use the same account and password you use to login, you will be able to watch it run.Once you understand how to get a simple task like Command Prompt working and you know where the log file is and how to change the task Proprieties, you can work on your new or afflicted task and get it working.There are ways to work around some of the restrictions and requirements, but it is best to just use what you have and use it properly. A common problem with Scheduled Tasks is that there is no password on the account used to create the task or folks expect to "see" the task running when it is not assigned to their login and when theydon't see anything and think the task is not running. That is not the way it works. The log file and Task Manager will tell you what is really going on.If you are used to not having a password on your account because you don't like to enter one when you login or you are the only user on your system, and decide to start using some STs, it is sometimes easiest to just assign a password to your account or just create a new XP user account with a password and use it for the STs. You can assign a password to your account and still have your system set up to never prompt you for a password when you login but you should remember your password - or set up a new account just for your scheduled tasks. Do, or do not. 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