Schedule

I need to launch programs, batch files, and scripts automatically. Microsoft now has a decent task scheduler, but I didn't have that back when I wrote this program. Every other scheduler I could find came with a nasty shareware nag screen or made itself an unwelcome guest on my task bar. So I wrote my own scheduler.

The Schedule program has no user interface because it really doesn't need one. Setting up the specs on what programs get launched is handled by an INI file. A GUI doesn't add much to this simple process. The only remaining item where a GUI might be handy is to shut the program down. But I elected to let the sytem kill the program via the task manager (hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete, select "Schedule", and "End Task"). So I got out of all the bother with a GUI. The best part of no GUI is no window. That means no task bar or system tray clutter. If you want, Schedule will keep a log of program launches (including it's own start and stop times).

Schedule is a Visual Basic program and needs the Microsoft VB5 Runtime files  which you probably already have. So I didn't include them in the download! To get the Schedule program, the ReadMe file, and source code, click the "Download Now!" icon at the top of this page.

One advantage of using this scheduler over the built-in scheduler is when you have to schedule multiple tasks. If you use the AT command, all your tasks run as SYSTEM and can't access the network. If you use the "tasks" GUI to schedule your tasks, you have to enter your username and password for every task -- every time you change your password. So... Use the tasks GUI to run MY schedule program, and let my schedule program start everything else! That way you only have one username/password task to change. If you set the schedule task in the GUI to run on startup, it's as good as being a service.

Good News:
I've written a VBS version of the scheduling program for those folks who may be on locked-down computers. Look here:
http://www.ericphelps.com/scripting/samples/Schedule/index.html

Microsoft also wrote a separate schedule program nobody knows about. Try it out:
ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/ResKit/nt4/x86/winat/winat.exe