Command-Line Task Scheduler

Running programs on remote computers is a common administrative task—useful, for example, in installing software updates. Windows 2000 and later include the Task Scheduler service, which lets you flexibly schedule programs to run on a local or remote computer. Task Scheduler lets you schedule tasks through an easy-to-use GUI, in contrast to the old Windows NT scheduler service, which required you to run the AT command at the command line.

Nevertheless, it's still sometimes useful to schedule jobs from the command line. The AT command is still available for backward compatibility, although its flexibility is limited because, by default, jobs scheduled with the AT command run under the context of the System account, which for security reasons doesn't have network access. This limitation can be a problem when you need to schedule a program that resides on a different computer.

Task Scheduler is useful in such cases, but Win2K doesn't include a built-in way to schedule commands executed at the command line to run under the context of a network account. However, Microsoft provides a tool that lets you manage the Windows Task Scheduler from a command line. You can find the tool—jt.exe—in the Microsoft Windows 2000 Resource Kit, or you can download it at ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/reskit/win2000/jt.zip. (Be aware that some users have reported intermittent problems with downloading from Microsoft's FTP site.) Jt.exe also works on Windows XP and later. I've written a VBScript script called JTRun.vbs that uses Jt's functionality to conveniently and securely run a program on a remote computer. You can find JTRun.vbs on the Windows Scripting Solutions Web site. Go to http://www.windowsitpro.com/windowsscripting, enter InstantDoc ID 45148 in the InstantDoc ID text box, then click the 45148.zip hotlink. . . .