JSI Tip 7035. A Windows Server 2003 task scheduled with Schtasks.exe does NOT run and the Scheduled Tasks dialog shows Status column 'Could not start'?

When you schedule a task with the Scheduled Tasks Wizard, it runs. When you schedule the same task using the Schtasks.exe command-line tool, the task does NOT run and displays a Could not start in the Status column of the Scheduled Tasks dialog.

The problem will occur if the scheduled task path contains a space, such as:

Schtasks /Create /TN "Task Name" /TR "C:\Program Files\ProgramFolder\ProgramName.exe" /SC once /SD 08/06/2003 /ST 07:30

because everything after the first space in the path is considered to be a command-line argument.

To workaround this behavior, enclose the /TR path parameter between backslash (\) AND quotation marks ("):

Schtasks /Create /TN "Task Name" /TR "\"C:\Program Files\ProgramFolder\ProgramName.exe\" arguments" /SC once /SD 08/06/2003 /ST 07:30