Windows Task Schedule does not run task but task runs successfully when batch file manually called or when script run in Visual Studio Code

glassesdumpbreathe 20

Summary: My .bat file runs when I manually double-click the file in File Explorer, but it does not run when I try to schedule it in Windows Task Scheduler.

Details:

I have a .bat file that I have stored in a folder. When I open File Explorer and double-click that .bat file, it successfully runs. The .bat file runs a Python script. I am also able to successfully run the Python script manually from Visual Studio Code.

However, when I schedule that same file in Windows Task Scheduler, WTS tells me that it completed the task successfully but when I check my logs I find that the task did not actually run.

When I last triggered the bat file to run in Windows Task Scheduler at 1:11:41 PM, it started the task (100), started the action (200), completed the action (201) and completed the task (102) at 1:11:42 PM.

This is the XML view for the task completed (102) event:

<Event xmlns="__http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event__">
<System>

<Channel>Microsoft-Windows-TaskScheduler/Operational</Channel>

<Computer>(removed by OP)</Computer>

</System>

<EventData Name="TaskSuccessEvent">

<Data Name="TaskName">\pathfolder\file_name_without_file_extension</Data>

</EventData>

</Event>

I'm seeing in other Microsoft answers that if it can be problematic to supply a path to the Program/Script bank that begins with a letter for a drive. However, I'm not seeing specific information on what I should use instead of this letter drive name. During my googling, I saw another Microsoft Answers where someone linked to two previous Microsoft Answers, but the links were broken:

editaction

Here are screenshots of my Windows Task Scheduler with sensitive information removed:

General tab:

bat general

Triggers:

bat trigger

Actions:

bat actions

Edit Action--please note I have tried placing this path within quotation marks and without quotation marks (in screenshot below):

editaction

Conditions:

bat conditions

Settings:

bat settings

This is information on my computer:

Processor 13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-13900H 2.60 GHz

Installed RAM 64.0 GB (63.7 GB usable)

System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

Edition Windows 11 Enterprise

Version 22H2

Accepted answer

MotoX80 35,506 Reputation points

2024-12-02T23:14:16.74+00:00

The task scheduler does a user impersonation, not a full desktop logon. Your H drive is probably not getting mapped.

Change the "Program/script" to execute cmd.exe. In the "Add arguments (optional)" set it to "/c H:\whatever\whatever.bat 1> c:\YourFavoriteLogFolder\YourLog.txt 2>&1"

That will cause cmd.exe to capture stdout and stderr into a log file that you can review.

If it does not see the H drive, then use the UNC path to the bat file, "\\YourServerName\YourShareName\YourFolderName\whatever.bat."
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1 person found this answer helpful.
glassesdumpbreathe 20 Reputation points

2024-12-03T15:13:44.82+00:00

Thank you so much for the detailed help! They really helped me troubleshoot.

I would like to check that I correctly followed your instructions (and I also hope my screenshots will help another newbie like myself who's googling Windows Task Scheduler!).

I also want to double-check that I was following your instructions correctly (thank you again! Your instructions are great, and I want to make sure I followed them correctly).

Before I replaced the word "pause" with "exit", I found that the task would run for an hour. Below is a description of my Windows Task Scheduler history screenshot:

-          Windows Task Scheduler started the task at 10:11:42 pm.

-          File explorer shows that YourLog.txt was modified at 10:11:42 pm. YourLog.txt indicates that the batch file successfully called the Python script. I have a print() statement at the final line of the Python script that indicates that the script made it to the final line without an error message, and this statement is visible in YourLog.txt.

-          However, I'm surprised that the Windows Task Scheduler history for this task shows that this WTS task had to be terminated an hour later at 11:11:42 pm (see windows task scheduler history screenshot below).

This is a screenshot of my Edit Action page:

For Program/Script, I input the location of cmd.exe with the file path. I navigated to this path using the Browse button.

For Add arguments (optional), I input (including the quotes):

"/c \redactserverorange\redactbluefolder\redactyellowfolder\redactgreenusernamefolder\redactsubfolder\redactsubfolder2\my_batch_file.bat 1> C:\Users\redactgreenusername\Logs\YourLog.txt 2>&1"

I obtained the UNC by using net use in the command line. For the "H" drive, I input the entire path that is highlighted below (the server name hidden in orange and the three folders):

If it's alright, I'd like to get your thoughts on a change I made to your instructions.

After I noticed that the task timed out this morning, I updated the batch file to say "exit" at the end instead of "pause" like below (screenshot):

(note for newbies like myself: this is a screenshot of a notepad++ window that cuts off part of the second line)

I ran the task again after I changed the batch file to have "exit" instead of "pause" at the end, and this time the task completed within a second, right after the script finished.

Thank you so much again for your help! I had been googling for a bit and kept finding dead links to nonexistent forums posts. Your written instructions were really helpful.

tl;dr my final questions:

Question 1: Did I follow your directions correctly? I am new to this so I want to make sure I followed your instructions carefully.

Question 2: Is it okay that I changed "pause" to "exit" in the batch file so the WTS task won't time out?

MotoX80 35,506 Reputation points

2024-12-03T16:09:53.15+00:00

One common reason for using a pause statement is to give the user the ability to double click on a .bat file in explorer to run it and keep the window alive so you can see the output. But that requires manual intervention; the user has to press some key to continue. Pause is just going to hang a scheduled task.

As an alternative, you could use "timeout /t 30". That would leave the window there for 30 seconds (or however long you wish) so that you could review the output before it "goes away". That would keep the scheduled task running for an additional 30 seconds, but it would still end on its own.

The /c switch tells cmd.exe to terminate if the .bat file does not do an exit.

Depending on what your task does, I have found it useful to log the start and stop times, and also to keep track of multiple occurrences of the task activity.

In the bat file I would typically have this.

@echo %date% - %time% MyScript is starting. SomeProgram.exe @echo %date% - %time% MyScript is ending. SomeProgram RC=%errorlevel%

In the arguments field set it like this example:

/c C:\Scripts\MyScript.bat 1>>"C:\Scripts\Logs\MyScript-%date:~10,4%-%date:~4,2%%date:~7,2%.log" 2>&1

That will create a daily log file that gets appended to (the "1>>" redirect). Also note the double quotes around the log file name to account for spaces.

glassesdumpbreathe 20 Reputation points

2025-02-10T18:47:53.6966667+00:00

Thank you for your helpful response! This really helped me troubleshoot some unrelated issues with my task scheduler tasks.
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