Using Windows "scheduled tasks" to launch a .bat file

I have a .bat file which I'd like to have run automatically every night.

I tried using Windows "scheduled tasks" and referenced the .bat file. I then
tried manually running it to test it. A command window briefly flashes on
the screen but the .bat file does not appear to be invoked.

I verified that the .bat file isn't getting called by creating a simple test
..bat file which did nothing more than create a file on disk. Sure enough the
..bat file isn't getting called. The test .bat file contents are shown below.


echo hello >> c:\test_log.txt


I also tried referencing cmd.exe /c "c:\test.bat" in the scheduled task and
this didn't work either.

The annoying part about all this is that I successfully did this a long time
ago and I recall having similar issues and eventually figuring it out If
only I could recall what the magic was which made it work.

Any ideas?


begin 666 smiley_smile.gif
M1TE&.#EA$ `0`/<``!X2`AX:#BX?"#HF`DHR`DXZ%EHZ`DY*/F%)'VI*$FU0
M'G91#W]4!V=6-VYA2W5K7GYV8H9:!I)?!89B&HIJ-J)J`JYU"JIV'(1[:L1^
M`H:">J:"0JJ:=LJ&"-N-`MZ2`L*.-L:2.M*6*NN9`NZB&^:J/N^M,LR<1MFI
M4LJJ=N:R7O*V2O*^8NK$?O+";O;*>9B4C*6AG*^LJ;:VLKZ^NMJZ@MK"EMK*
MJO;2DOK>KLK*QOKFPOKQW?[V[O___QX2`@``````````````````````````
M````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
M````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
M````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
M````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
M````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
M````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
M````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
M````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
M````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
M````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
M````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
M````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
M`````````````````````"'Y! $``#X`+ `````0`! ```C:`'T('*B#!@T=
M`Q,.C &A`0($#2#(4"@0`P(&%U"@L, ``0:%&!* X,%C1PX<+CHD^"@0AH(3
M/4J>?,%B10<%, 0ZD$#R``<<+S84,$%"@@,?,EZ6Q)""9H@))$9D4" #QH(6
M-VP`K4G40X8/"V!8;?' `<T51$=4&# B; P%*&H$4($VZ@@"$3PHB$&C@847
M% 2(B.K!@( 1%AK0\ &!08D5%P0(& !@P8@1#" (G-% `@F[ER]+:#!C88,(
?'4*/Z!"A00R%,AQ<E""AHX.)%)%J>/! `^Z!`0$`.P``
`
end

I found the problem. Someone else suggested using cmd.exe /k "the .bat
file" so that the window would stay open, allowing viewing of any errors.

As it turns out, the problem was caused by one of the directories in the
path to the .bat file containing spaces. Using dir /x to obtain the 8.3
abbreviated name and using that instead fixed the problem.


"Dave Calkins" <david.calkins.DeleteThis@noemail.noemail> wrote in message
news:%23lSue1lcIHA.748@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>I have a .bat file which I'd like to have run automatically every night.
>
> I tried using Windows "scheduled tasks" and referenced the .bat file. I
> then tried manually running it to test it. A command window briefly
> flashes on the screen but the .bat file does not appear to be invoked.
>
> I verified that the .bat file isn't getting called by creating a simple
> test .bat file which did nothing more than create a file on disk. Sure
> enough the .bat file isn't getting called. The test .bat file contents are
> shown below.
>
>
> echo hello >> c:\test_log.txt
>
>
> I also tried referencing cmd.exe /c "c:\test.bat" in the scheduled task
> and this didn't work either.
>
> The annoying part about all this is that I successfully did this a long
> time ago and I recall having similar issues and eventually figuring it out
> If only I could recall what the magic was which made it work.
>
> Any ideas?
>
>
>