Vista Task Scheduler

You don't have to be present to run programs. Joe Cassels shows how to set them up automatically.

It's often useful to be able to run programs and utilities automatically at specific times or when triggered by an event so you don't have to be standing over your PC to get certain things done. The most obvious example is regular backup duties or items of system maintenance that you want to ensure you don't forget. This is what scheduled tasks were developed for. They've been available in recent versions of Windows, but they've improved significantly in Windows Vista.

By default Vista ensures that your hard drive is automatically defragmented and once you've configured your backup program, this will take place automatically to. This is achieved via the Task Scheduler, which you'll find in System Tools under Accessories. When you launch it, you'll see the list of tasks that are automatically set up by Windows itself, but you can opt to add to this list if you want to run other items unattended.

The walkthrough demonstrates how to add a basic task to the scheduler using a wizard. Each task is composed of a Trigger, which tells Windows when to run it and an Action, which determines what your PC does when the task is activated. In the simplest case, the trigger would be a time reached by the Windows Clock and the action might be launching a specific program. However, you can get a little more involved than that. It's possible to create a trigger for when the computer starts or shuts down. This can be very useful for PCs that aren't kept on all the time or where you have no regular usage pattern. Alternatively, you can set a system event to be the trigger.

Equally, actions can be more complex than just launching a program. You can specify a number of conditions for a program to run under, such as the default folder that it stores data in or which command line switches you want to use. In the advanced properties of a task, you can tell Vista to delay or skip the task if the computer is in use so you don't lose out on performance.

Schedule a Task
Set up a simple scheduled task using the Create Basic Task Wizard.


1
Choose Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Task Scheduler. Give your permission to continue when prompted. Under Actions, choose Create Basic Task. This launches a wizard that takes you through the process of setting up a task.


2
Provide a name and a brief description of your task, so you can identify and edit it later. Click Next and supply the Trigger, which could be based on timing or a system event. If you choose Daily, you'll then need to supply a time for the event on the next screen.


3
Choose from the actions offered, which include starting a program, sending an email or displaying a message. In the case of running a program, click next and browse to the executable file concerned. Provide any additional arguments if necessary and complete the wizard.