Task Scheduler settings

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I have a task that creates a restore point. I have it set, I thought, to create a point whether the user is logged on or not. But it doesn’t seem to do that. If I log out of the user that created the RP, and log in as another user, no RP gets created it seems.

Does that qualifier only mean when no user is logged in? Is there a way to set it so that a RP will be created regardless of which user is logged in?

Regards,
Chuck Billow

Chuck Billow

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Unfortunately, holdum, what you are saying seem to be the case. There have been times when an RP saved my hide, but then just as many times when I went looking for one in order to recover from a situation, and there were none! Research and commentary on this board has led me to the realization that, especially if one is installing Insider (test) builds of W10, that it will indiscriminately delete any RP’s present — very poor idea in my mind. But, aside from that, I have been trying to monitor the process, and RP’s get erased even without any major upgrade in process, and, just as disturbing, the Task Scheduler seems undependable in its own right for scheduling RP creation. Fortunately, or maybe not so, when I come across this type of inexplicable happening, it just makes me more set on finding the reason and a solution.

Here’s hoping!

Chuck

I thought I’d also include a graphic. These are supposed to be created every fifteen minutes. H-m-m-m-m…

43958-RP

Chuck Billow

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Right now I have 20 restore points dating back to 12/31/2015. All were created after critical updates and most seem to be 3-4 days apart. Maybe it’s best to just let system restore do it’s thing on it’s own schedule.

Rich

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Several things:

1.) when you install a new Insider Preview version it is treated as a Windows version upgrade. All prior RPs are deleted just as they have been in the past when you installed a new version of Windows or dual booted between versions. Rolling back to an RP before a new version install makes no sense.

2.) Restore points are created before updates are installed not after.

3.) Automatic scheduled restore points are created ONLY if other RPs have not been created in the last 7 days.

4.) Task Scheduler – see General Task Properties and the links at the end of the article. Even though it says it applies to Windows 7 it should still be applicable to Windows 10. Also see What’s New in Task Scheduler for changes in the last several version of Windows.

Joe

--Joe

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Joe, #3:

My RP schedule of every 4 hours during a setup seems to work fine — sorta. So if I schedule for every four hours, you are saying it will ignore the schedule?

I’ll take a look at #4.

Thanks,
Chuck

Chuck Billow

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@Chuck,

I meant the system generated task to automatically create restore points. Your task should work as scheduled.

Joe

--Joe

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Well Joe, it don’t. I have my machine set to fire every 15 minutes while I set up for tax prep, and the last several RP’s ran at 9.47pm, 10.19pm, 10.32pm and 10.47pm. As it is set to start up two minutes after the quarter-hour, it should have bee 9.47pm, 10.02pm, 10.17pm, 10.32pm, and 10.47pm.

I have the task set to run regardless of who is logged in, and to retry on fail every minute for up to three retries.

That doesn’t seem quite right, does it?

Chuck

Added: I attached a copy of the exported task in question.

Chuck Billow

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Was the machine awake? Your task definition does not allow wake-to-run.

You might want to have your .vbs in a different folder than under Program Files. Program Files is a protected location and I’ve seen problems with using it regardless of the account being used.

Joe

--Joe

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Joe, yes my machine was awake…I’m not sure how/where to set wake-to-run. yes, the script (as of the moment) is at “C:Program FilesAuto Restore PointInstant_Restore_Point-10.vbs.” I’ll certainly move it and see if that helps.
—
OK, I moved the script to “C:WinMgmntSystemRegistryAuto Restore PointInstant_Restore_Point-10.vbs.”

We’ll see if that helps…hope so…

Thanks,
Chuck

Chuck Billow

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I checked out your xml file, and you appear to have it set up wrong. To run a vbs file you need to have it set up an unusual way from other programs. Under Action->Start a program you simply just put in the name of your vbs file. Then you put where it is stored in the Start in box. I have a couple set up, but the screen shot below is an example.

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I’ll give that a look. But the task runs fine manually, so I dunno.

Chuck

Chuck Billow

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I tried not having the wscript.exe, but it didn’t activate at all — no errors either, just nada. I tried it the “old way” again, and it worked fine. It’s not the script. It’s a Task Scheduler issue in W-10 as, I think, relates to updates.

Chuck

Chuck Billow

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The restore points themselves seem to work fine. It is the scheduling or reliance on any auto-backup procedure that seems at best shaky. I rely on Macrium as well, but to have only backups as an option is too bad.

Chuck

Chuck Billow

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Under the Conditions tab in the Power section.

Joe

--Joe

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