How to run a task on log-on for every Windows user

scheduled-taskwindows-xp

Whenever a user logs on to a Windows XP Machine, I want to run a batch script as them that adds network printers. How to do that?

Using the Scheduled Task Wizard, it looks like I'd have to add a scheduled task for every user manually.

Best Answer

Are the computers joined to a domain or are they using local accounts?

Domain controllers have built-in support for a logon script. There's tons of information out there on this and we'd need more information to guide you here. (What software is your DC running?) GPO is a better option if you are using a Windows Active Directory back end.

It can be done with local accounts, too. MS has a KB entry for it here: How to Assign a Logon Script to a Profile for a Local User

Related Solutions

How to Run a .bat File in a Scheduled Task Without a Window

You could run it silently using a Windows Script file instead. The Run Method allows you running a script in invisible mode. Create a .vbs file like this one

Dim WinScriptHost
Set WinScriptHost = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
WinScriptHost.Run Chr(34) & "C:\Scheduled Jobs\mybat.bat" & Chr(34), 0
Set WinScriptHost = Nothing

and schedule it. The second argument in this example sets the window style. 0 means "hide the window."

Complete syntax of the Run method:

 object.Run(strCommand, [intWindowStyle], [bWaitOnReturn])

Arguments:

object: WshShell object.
strCommand: String value indicating the command line you want to run. You must include any parameters you want to pass to the executable file.
intWindowStyle: Optional. Integer value indicating the appearance of the program's window. Note that not all programs make use of this information.
bWaitOnReturn: Optional. Boolean value indicating whether the script should wait for the program to finish executing before continuing to the next statement in your script. If set to true, script execution halts until the program finishes, and Run returns any error code returned by the program. If set to false (the default), the Run method returns immediately after starting the program, automatically returning 0 (not to be interpreted as an error code).

Schedule a Task to Run When Another Completes on Windows Server 2003

The simplest way would be to use a batch file that runs the first command with START /WAIT.

E.g.

start /wait spider.bat
secondjob.bat

The batch file will then pause and wait until the "spider" task finishes and then run your next script. (Or an executable, this will work for executables as well as .bat/.cmd scripts)

Best Answer

Related Solutions

How to Run a .bat File in a Scheduled Task Without a Window

Schedule a Task to Run When Another Completes on Windows Server 2003

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