Introduction

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Welcome to System Scheduler

This program is designed to easily schedule applications or reminders to be run at any time of the day or night. Events can be scheduled to run once, every minute, hourly, daily, every x days, weekly, monthly or yearly. Scheduled events can be configured to automatically send key presses to any applications that are executed.

If you are running System Scheduler Professional you will also be able to schedule other types of events such as: file watcher or process watcher, logon/logoff computer, lock/unlock computer (Windows NT, 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, 7), and shutdown/restart of local and remote computers. Also, with the Professional version there are additional scheduling options such as On Logon or On Logoff/Shutdown, On Idle and On Cease Idle.

You should have a Scheduler Icon in your Windows Tray. Click this to get access to all of System Scheduler's features:

Here are some quick links to the main parts of the Help file, or click Contents for a full list.

Scheduling Reminders

Scheduling Applications

Sending Key Presses

Watching For Windows

Watching For Processes

Watching For Files

Logoff/Logon Computer

Lock/Unlock Computer

Wakeup Computer

Send Email

Sequence of Events

Enable/Disable Event

Preferences

All Events

Extra Features in System Scheduler Professional

Advanced Tab

NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista Service Setup

Frequently Asked Questions

If you have any problems using System Scheduler please visit our web site at http://www.splinterware.com or send us an email at support@splinterware.com.


Popup Reminders

Reminders

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Title

Put the subject of the reminder in this line, this will appear in red in the popup reminder.

Text

Put the text of your reminder in this box. Note: text enclosed in < > will appear as an embedded link in the pop-up message that can then be clicked (e.g. <http://www.splinterware.com>).

Snoozing Reminders

When a reminder appears, you have the option of snoozing it for a time using the drop-down list to choose how long to snooze it for and then clicking the Snooze button.

Saving

Either click the Exit button and you will be prompted to save the reminder, or click the Action menu and Save.

Scheduling

Reminders can be scheduled to run once, every minute, hour, day, month or year. See Scheduling Options for more information.

Back to Introduction


Run Application

Applications

Title

This is the title for the event as listed in the 'View All Events' page. All Events

Application

You should enter the full path and name of the executable file. You should NOT enter any command line parameters in this edit box, rather use the parameters edit box below for additional options. System Scheduler will execute any commands that can normally be entered from the Windows Start - Run command, including EXE, COM, BAT, CMD file types. Also if you have appropriate file associations setup you can run any file, and the associated program will automatically be started. e.g. If you use Microsoft Word you could run a program like "C:\My Files\Mydocument.DOC". Word will be automatically launched and the document opened.

Any valid command you can type in the MS Windows 'Run' box can be entered into the Application field, here are some examples:

C:\Windows\Notepad.EXE

C:\Test.BAT

C:\MyDocument.DOC

http://www.splinterware.com

If you are using the Run As... feature (Professional version only) to run the application under another users account, it is recommended you always use the full path to the application program file in the Application field, e.g. C:\Windows\Notepad.exe not just Notepad.exe

Parameters

Enter any optional parameters for the Program. For example, if you were running Notepad.exe as your Program, then you may have a filename such as C:\MYFILE.TXT as the parameter.

For example, if you wished to run the program Notepad.exe and get it to open a file called MyFile.txt, the job would look like this:

Application: Notepad.exe

Parameters: MyFile.txt

or to Defrag your computer hard disk:

Application: CMD.exe

Parameters: /c DEFRAG C:

Working Dir

By default the working directory for the application will be the same directory the Program is executed from. If you wish the program to have a different working directory when it is executed you can specify this here.

Sendkeys

Enter any keypresses you would like to be automatically sent to the Application, you can also send Mouse Clicks. See Sending Keypresses and Special Keys for more information.

State

You can launch the program either 'Normal', 'Minimized','Maximized' or 'Hidden'. Some programs will override how they have been called and display themselves as they wish.

Saving

Either click the Exit button and you will be prompted to save the reminder, or click the Action menu and Save.

Scheduling

Tasks can be scheduled to run once, every minute, hour, day, month or year. See Scheduling Options for more information.


Scheduling Options

Do not schedule

If you wish, events do not have to be scheduled. This is useful for storing events that you may want to schedule later.

Once

Enter the date and time you would like this event scheduled. Reminders that are set to run once are automatically deleted after they have been acknowledged. This automatic deletion can be switched off in the Advanced tab (System Scheduler Professional).

Every Minute

The event will run once every minute.

Every Hour / Selected Minutes

You can specify either 'every hour' or specific hours during the day when you want the event to be run. You also must specify which minute(s) of the hour you would like it to run, or select 'every minute'.

For example if you wanted an event to run at 08:30 and again at 17:30:

Selected Hours = 8,17

Selected Minutes = 30

If you want to run an event every 10 minutes, but only between the hours of 09:00pm and 11:00pm:

Select Hours = 21,22

Selected Minutes = 0,10,20,30,40,50

More information in Scheduling Format

Every Day / Week

Select which days of the week you would like the task/reminder to run. You must also specify which hour(s) and minute(s) of the day you would like it to be run, or choose a specific time. If you wish to run a task once a week then just select one day of the week for it to run.

Every X Days

You can specify how many days interval between events. This is particularly useful for bi-weekly schedules where you can set this option to every 14 days. By setting the start date you can ensure the job starts on the day of the week you require.

Every Month

You can choose which date(s) of the month you would like the task/reminder to run and the time on those dates. Again you need to specify either a specific time on those dates, or select multiple hours and minutes. Alternatively instead of identifying specific dates you can use the option to select 'first...last', 'monday...sunday', this is useful for example, the first monday of the month, or the last day of the month etc - where those days fall on different dates each month.

For example, if you wished to run an event on the 15th and 25th of the month:

Days = 15,25

In the Professional version there are additional monthly scheduling options for Working Days and Non-Working Days.

More information in Scheduling Format

Every Year

Useful for anniversaries, specify the date/time of the year you would like to be reminded.

On Logon (System Scheduler Professional Only)

You can schedule events to run when a user logs on using this option. This is similar to using the 'Startup' folder in MS Windows. In addition you can specify a delay so that the job runs x seconds after logon (up to 1 hour).

On Wakeup (System Scheduler Professional Only)

You can schedule an event to run when the computer wakes up from Standby or Hibernate. This can be useful if you wish the compute to be automatically unlocked when woken up, or run a specific application. In addition you can specify a delay so that the job runs x seconds after logon (up to 1 hour).

On Shutdown/Logoff (System Scheduler Professional Only)

When the current users session is ending, either due to the computer shutting down or the user logging off, System Scheduler can run events. During logoff/shutdown System Scheduler will stop the session from ending and optionally prompt you to see if you want to run the scheduled events. You can either choose to run the events or continue with the logoff/shutdown by clicking the appropriate button.

Alternatively you can configure the On Shutdown job to not prompt the user or provide any visible indication of running a job. We recommend if you are not providing a visual indication to the user then the job should not take any longer than 5 seconds to run otherwise the user may think the computer is not behaving correctly.

Note: If the the shutdown is triggered by System Scheduler itself (e.g. in response to a scheduled shutdown event) then the On Shutdown/Logoff events will not trigger - this is because System Scheduler assumes that if you have scheduled the computer to shutdown you really do want to shut it down.

On Idle (System Scheduler Professional Only)

This event is triggered when the computer has been idle (no mouse or keyboard activity) for x minutes. Specify how many minutes idle time to wait before running event.

On Cease Idle (System Scheduler Professional Only)

This event is triggered when the computer has been idle (no mouse or keyboard activity) for at least x minutes and then ceases to be idle (activity starts again). Specify how many minutes the computer should have been idle before cease idle event can run.

On Service Start (System Scheduler Professional Only)

When you are using NT/2000/XP and have System Scheduler configured to run as a service you can set a job to run when the service starts up, this is usually when the computer starts, shortly after the 'Press Ctrl+Alt+Del' dialog box appears. Note: The System Scheduler Service should be configured to start 'Automatic'.

This is a good way to get a NT/2000/XP computer to auto-logon. You could create a 'Logon' event with appropriate logon ID and Password and schedule it to run On Service Start.

On Scheduler Start (System Scheduler Professional Only)

When you log in and System Scheduler starts up (this is when the tray-icon appears if it is not configured to be hidden) you can schedule a task to run on startup. If while logged in System Scheduler is exited, the task will run again every time System Scheduler is restarted.

On Windows 9x/ME computers if System Scheduler is configured to run before Logon this event occurs before the user logs on. This is a good way to get a 9x/ME computer to auto-logon. You could create a 'Logon' event with appropriate logon ID and Password and schedule it to run On Scheduler Start.

On Scheduler Exit (System Scheduler Professional Only)

When the System Scheduler tray-icon is exited, you can trigger a task to run. This task will also be triggered when you log out of a computer as the tray-icon is closed down during logout. If System Scheduler is configured to run BEFORE logon on Windows 9x/ME this event is not triggered on Logging Off as System Scheduler remains running in the background.

Saving

Either click the Exit button and you will be prompted to save, or click the Save and Exit button.


All Events

Events List

Displays all the tasks/reminders and other events that currently stored by System Scheduler.

From here you can Edit, Duplicate, Delete, Enable, Disable or Run any event. Right Click the event and select from the menu.

You can also create a desktop shortcut to any of your events to be able to run them immediately from an icon. To do this right-click the event in the list and choose Create Desktop Shortcut

You can also view that events individual log file by right-clicking and choosing View Event Log.

You can also Sort the event list by clicking the appropriate column header.

Last Run / Next Run

The events list will also indicate when each event was last run (if ever) and when it will next be run. If the Next Run field is blank, this indicates it has not been scheduled to run. Some other items that may appear in Next Run:

#_xxxxx (any Next Run starting with # indicates a special schedule option such as 'On Logon' or 'On Idle')

>Date Range (you have set a date/time range in advanced but it is not valid)

>1 Year (you have set date/time range or special days in advanced however no schedule is valid within the next year)

Backing Up / Moving Events

All tasks/reminders in System Scheduler are stored in the sub-folder 'Events' created under the folder you installed System Scheduler (usually C:\Program Files\System Scheduler\Events).

If you want to backup your scheduled events either to restore in the event of system failure or to copy to another computer, simply copy the .INI files contained in the Events sub-folder. Each .INI file is a record of each event you have created.

To make a backup copy of your default preferences, you also need to copy the file 'Preferences.ini' from the folder where you installed System Scheduler.

Back to Introduction.


Preferences

All preferences are stored in the file PREFERENCES.INI which should be in the folder that the System Scheduler application is in.

Go here for: NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista Service Preferences

Go here for: Logon Keypresses Preferences

Go here for: Remote Desktop / Terminal Services Preferences

Go here for: Working Days Preferences

Go here for: Auto Logon Computer Preferences

Go here for: Email Setup Preferences

Events Preferences

Reminders

Display Snooze Button

Optional setting to decide whether snooze options are displayed on popup reminders

Default Snooze

Choose from the drop down how long you would like to snooze a reminder before it pops up again.

Display Edit Button

Optional setting to decide whether the edit button is displayed on popup reminders.

Display Fade Effects

The popup message will fade in to view when this option is ticked, otherwise it will just appear as a window.

Stay on Top

The popup window will stay on top of all other windows if this option is ticked, otherwise it can be moved behind other windows. Note: The popup window will always appear on top of other windows for at least 5 seconds even if this option is not ticked.

Play Sound

Either use the default windows sound or specify a WAV file to be played when a reminder pops up.

Minimize when using "Run Now"

If you are testing an event from the GUI by using the Run Now button, the GUI may interfere with sending keypresses. By checking this option you can ensure the GUI is out of the way before running the event.

Turn Off Caps Locks before SendKeys

If Caps Lock is on, the text in the Sendkeys field will have its case reversed. By turning off caps lock this ensures the text is sent in the case it was originally typed. If you wish System Scheduler to restore the status of the Caps Lock key at the end of sending keypresses add a {RESTORECAPS} macro to the end of the line.

Default Delay Before Sending Keypresses

When sending keypresses to an application you may need a delay to allow time for the application to launch before starting to send keys. You can specify a default delay in this option box. Alternatively you can include a {WAIT=?} keyword in the Sendkeys edit when creating a scheduled task.

See Sending Keypresses and Special Keys for more information.

Multi Threading

When Multi Treading is enabled each event launched by System Scheduler will run in its own Windows Thread. This means that Microsoft Windows can multi-task between different running programs. So if two events are scheduled to run at exactly the same time, then they will both be executed at the same time, without any noticeable delay between them.

When Multi Threading is disabled, events scheduled to run at the same time will run sequentially one after the other.

Sometimes events running at the same time may have conflicting 'Working Directories'. If you find events running at the same time exhibit working directory problems un-check this option to multi-thread.

Startup/Logging Preferences

Do Not Start System Scheduler on Logon

Normally System Scheduler will start automatically on Logon. This is achieved by an entry in the 'Run' section of the registry. If you wish, you can set System Scheduler to not run automatically. For Windows 9x/ME this will prevent any scheduled events from running at all.

For Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 this will prevent the logged-on instance of System Scheduler from running, it is possible to still have the Service Instance still running and the service will take care of running any scheduled 'Run Application' events. Note: Some features of System Scheduler Professional require the logged-on instance to be running, such as 'On Idle', 'On Shutdown/Logoff' events. Only disable the startup of System Scheduler if you are sure that's what you want to do.

System Scheduler Runs for All Users / Current User

System Scheduler makes an entry in the Registry to automatically start up the tray-icon on computer logon. By default this is set in the Local Machine part of the registry so System Scheduler will start up for all users logging into the machine. You may just want System Scheduler to run for the currently logged in user, you can choose Current user only and the Registry entry will be moved to the Current User portion of the Registry and System Scheduler will only start up the tray-icon when the current user logs in.

Hiding The Tray-Icon

If you prefer System Scheduler to run in the background without displaying a tray-icon then check the box to hide the tray-icon on startup. This change will take effect immediately.

Changing The Tray-Icon

Rather than the default alarm clock you can change the tray-icon of System Scheduler to any other icon. (Please note: some icons will not display correctly when put in the tray, especially on Windows NT/2000 PC's, this is due to color limitations on tray-icons.)

To change the icon click the '...' button and browse to either a '.ICO' or '.EXE' file that has the icon you want to use. The change will take effect immediately.

To test, System Scheduler comes with a few icon files.

Use Highest Credentials Available (Windows Vista/7 Only)

MS Windows Vista introduced a new concept in security for users who tend to log in as an Administrator on their computer. By default Vista will run all applications as a normal user rather than Administrator unless the application has a setting indicating it must be run as an Administrator. System Scheduler can be configured to always use Administrator level credentials if they are available to the logged in user by ticking this option.

Start Before Logon (Windows 9x)

If you want to run events before logon you can select this option. This is only for Windows 9x/ME computers. For NT/2000/XP/Vista and higher computers you need System Scheduler Professional to be installed as a Service.

Hotkey

By default you can access System Scheduler's features by clicking the tray-icon. However you can assign a 'hotkey' to launch the System Scheduler GUI (Graphical User Interface) or to create a new event. Once assigned this hotkey will be available anywhere in windows regardless of what application you are using.

Log File

Scheduler can keep a record of all the Reminders / Tasks etc. it has attempted to run. This is output to a comma delimited file. You can set the maximum size of the file, when this size is reached the file is reduced to half its current size. Setting the size to 0 means the file will not be reduced in size.

Create Individual Event Log Files

System Scheduler logs all event information to the main log file, however it can therefore be difficult to track specific event log entries. In addition logs can be created for each individual event, then viewed through the main GUI, right click and choose 'View Event Log'.

Do Not Log Advanced Info

System Scheduler can log a lot more information about exactly what it is doing: Tracking events lists, running events, preferences and other settings. Most of this additional information is only useful for debugging purposes or getting more of an insight into how System Scheduler works. If you untick this option System Scheduler will create an additional logfile called LogfileAvanced.txt in the System Scheduler folder that contains a lot of additional information.

Max Size For Logfile

To stop the logfile growing too large you can set the maximum size. If you wish the logfile to keep on growing without being reduced in size, set this parameter to 0.

Back to Introduction.


Sending Keypresses

You can send any keyboard text to the application. If you need to send special keys like ALT, CTRL, WIN or Function/Arrow keys refer to the list of special key commands. You can also send some special parameters called macros. There is also limited ability to send mouse clicks.

Here are some examples of sending key presses, this text is exactly as you would type it in the SendKeys line in System Scheduler.

Example 1 - send some simple text.

{WAIT=1000}Here is some text{ENTER}

This example will wait 1 second (1000 milliseconds) to allow time for the application to execute before sending the text "Here is some text" followed by the enter key.

Example 2 - automatically create and save a text file.

Here is a new document%FSc:\doc1.txt{ENTER}

Try this with Notepad. This will send the text "Here is a new document", followed by ALT-F (to open the File menu) then S (for Save). The filename C:\DOC1.TXT will be entered into the save dialog followed by Enter to save the file.

Example 3 - send the current date as text.

The date today is {[DATE]}

The date yesterday was {[DATE]-1}

The date in mm/dd/yy format is {[DATE],mm/dd/yy}

These three example use the {[DATE]} macro to substitue the date in the text. See macros for more information.

Example 4 - reboot your computer (free version)

You can reboot your computer by sending some keypresses. Create a new Application Event, but leave the 'Program' and 'Params' fields blank, as we don't need to run anything. In the 'Send Keys' fields type the following:

{WIN}{WAIT=500}u{WAIT=500}r{ENTER}

This will cause the computer to reboot by sending these keypresses: {WIN}, this presses the Windows key which causes the start menu to popup, then 'u' to select the Shutdown menu option, followed by 'r' on the shutdown dialog to select Restart finally followed by {ENTER} which effectively clicks the Ok button to reboot the PC.


Special Keys

You can also send some special parameters called macros. There is also limited ability to send mouse clicks.

Delaying Keypresses

If you would like System Scheduler to wait before sending keypresses to an application use the {WAIT=????} command, where ???? is the time to wait in milliseconds before starting to send keypresses ({WAIT=1000} is equivalent to 1 Second). {WAIT} will delay the start, this is useful if your application takes a few seconds to launch before it is ready to accept keys from System Scheduler, {WAIT} can also be used anywhere during the sequence of keypresses. If you would like to increase the interval between each individual keypress sent to the application use the {DELAY=????} command.

Key Combinations

To specify keys combined with any combination of Alt, Ctrl, Shift and Win keys, precede the regular key code with one or more of the following codes:

Key

Alt
Ctrl
Win
Shift

Code

%
^
#
+

For example, if you wanted to send the key combination to pop-up the Windows Find dialog (Windows Key+F) you would enter #F in the SendKeys line. Other examples:

CTRL+A = ^a (select all)

CTRL+C = ^c (copy)

CTRL+V = ^v (paste)

ALT+F = %f (File menu)

ALT+F4 = %{F4} (close window)

When using key combinations with ALT, CTRL or WIN you must use the modifiers %,^ or # and not the key tokens {ALT}, {CTRL} or {WIN}. Key tokens are used for individual keypresses. For example, to get the Start Menu to appear you can enter {WIN} in the SendKeys line.

There are times when you may want to actually send the characters #,+,^,%,{,} or ~ and you don't want them to behave as special modifiers. To do this just enclose the key you want to send in curly braces {}, for example, if you need to send the % character you could do something like this on the SendKeys line:

echo {%}path{%} - this would appear as: echo %path%

Sending Multiple Modifiers

Sometimes you may need to press the CTRL or ALT or WIN key, then a sequence of keys (rather than a single keypress), or you may need to press a combination of CTRL and ALT etc. You can do this with these special commands:

{CTRL_DOWN} {CTRL_UP}

{ALT_DOWN} {ALT_UP}

{WIN_DOWN} {WIN_UP}

{SHIFT_DOWN} {SHIFT_UP}

For example, if you needed CTRL+SHIFT+F you could use:

{CTRL_DOWN}{SHIFT_DOWN}F{SHIFT_UP}{CTRL_UP}

Or if you needed to press ALT then TAB 3 times you could use:

{ALT_DOWN}{TAB}{TAB}{TAB}{ALT_UP}

Important: Remember to include the _UP command for any _DOWN command or you could end up with a stuck key.

Sending Character Codes

Below is a list of special key tokens that cover all the main special keys on standard keyboards such as F1 - F12, Arrow Keys and Numeric Keypad keys. However sometimes you may want to send special characters that do not appear on the keyboard but are available as part of the ASCII character set, usually you can get these characters to appear by press ALT + ASCII CODE on Numeric Keypad. System Scheduler can simulate these ASCII characters by using a special token {CODE=xxx} where xxx is the ASCII code that would be typed on the numeric keypad. For example {CODE=92} would produce a '\' when using a standard character set.

(Note: you cannot use {CODE=xxx} when sending to DOS - Command Prompt windows, see: Sending Keypresses To DOS (Command Prompt) Windows )

Special Key Tokens

Key

Backspace
Clear
CapsLock On
CapsLock Off
CapsLock
Del
Down Arrow
End
Enter
Esc
Help
Home
Ins
Left Arrow
Num Lock
Page Down
Page Up
Right Arrow
Scroll Lock
Space
Print Screen
Page Down
Page Up
Right Arrow
Scroll Lock
Print screen
Tab
Up Arrow
Windows Key
ALT Key
CTRL Key
Application Key
F1
F2
F3
F4
F5
F6
F7
F8
F9
F10
F11
F12

{BACKSPACE} or {BS} or {BKSP}
{CLEAR}
{CAPSON}
{CAPSOFF}
{CAPSLOCK} or {CAPS}
{DELETE} or {DEL}
{DOWN}
{END}
{ENTER} or ~
{ESCAPE} or {ESC}
{HELP}
{HOME}
{INSERT} or {INS}
{LEFT}
{NUMLOCK}
{PAGEDOWN} or {PGDN}
{PAGEUP} or {PGUP}
{RIGHT}
{SCROLLLOCK} or {SCROLL}
{SPACE}
{PRINTSCREEN} or {PRTSC}
{PAGEDOWN} or {PGDN}
{PAGEUP} or {PGUP}
{RIGHT}
{SCROLLLOCK} or {SCROLL}
{PRINTSCREEN} or {PRTSC}
{TAB}
{UP}
{WIN}
{ALT}
{CTRL}
{APP}
{F1}
{F2}
{F3}
{F4}
{F5}
{F6}
{F7}
{F8}
{F9}
{F10}
{F11}
{F12}


Window Watcher

Window Watcher can be used to ask the Scheduler to check for the existence of a window with a particular title, either exactly as it appears on the title bar or you can specify a partial match by using the asterisk * wildcard.

Title

This is the title for the event as listed in the 'View All Events' page. All Events

Caption

Either enter the exact text (case insensitive) of the Window Title Bar Caption you would like to watch for, or for a partial match put asterisk on the end. For example:

Untitled - Notepad - This would watch for a window title bar with an exact match.

Untitled* - This will match all windows with a title bar containing the word 'Untitled'.

Important: Remember to schedule your Window Watcher event. System Scheduler wont go looking for matching windows unless you schedule it to run.

Criteria

You can configure the Window Watcher to check for:

Window Exists - Take action if a matching title bar caption is found.

Window Does Not Exist - Take action if matching window is not found, useful to monitor running programs and maybe restart them if they stop running.

Windows is not responding (hung) - System Scheduler will send a message to the Window and if it does not respond will assume it has hung and can take action.

Action

Decide what action you would like to take when the window has been spotted.

l Send Keypresses / Run Task - This will send keypresses you define to the window and Run another System Scheduler task.
l Send Close Signal - Ask the window to shutdown (clean shutdown).
l Send Minimize Signal - Ask the window to minimize.
l Terminate Application - Will force the application to be closed

Perform Action For

If you select the 'Send Close Signal' or 'Send Minimize Signal' action then you can choose to either send the signal to the first matching window, or all matching windows.

Sendkeys

Only available if you have selected "Send Keypresses/Run Task" in Action. Enter any keypresses you would like to be automatically sent to the Window. Note: Normally the keypresses are sent to the window, then the task is run. If you select 'Perform Action if Window Does NOT Exist' the reverse is true - the task is run first and then the keypresses are sent. If you have 'Run Event' set to 'none' then the keypresses will be sent to the window you are watching for. In order to send keypresses to the window it needs to be the foreground window. System Scheduler will bring the window to the foreground in order to send keypresses, very occasionally the current foreground window may not relinquish the keyboard focus which will prevent the sendkeys from working.

See Sending Keypresses and Special Keys for more information.

Run Task

Only available if you have selected "Send Keypresses/Run Task" in Action. Select any other Scheduler task you would like to run.

Saving

Either click the Exit button and you will be prompted to save the reminder, or click the Action menu and Save.

Scheduling

Window Watcher can be scheduled to check for a window run once, every minute, hour, day, month or year. See Scheduling Options for more information.


File Watcher

(System Scheduler Professional Only)

File Watcher can be used to get System Scheduler to check for the existence (or non-existence) of a particular file, then run another event. So, for File Watcher to work you need a minimum of two Events. The File Watcher event itself, and a second event that will be run when the file exists criteria is met.

Title

This is the title for the event as listed in the 'View All Events' page. All Events

Filename

Enter the filename, including path, to watch for. You can use the browse button to find a particular file. You can use wildcards characters e.g. *.DAT.

Criteria

'File exists' or 'File does not exist'.

'Folder Exists' or 'Folder does not exist'.

'Folder is empty' or 'Folder is not empty'.

System Scheduler will check for a matching criteria as often as it is scheduled to run.

Run Event

When the criteria is matched (e.g. the file now exists), you must specify here what you want System Scheduler to do. You need to create a second event that System Scheduler will run in the event of the criteria being matched.

Run Event For

Either run the event only once when the criteria is first matched (e.g when the file appears). Or you can run the event every time the criteria is matched. For example, if you have an event scheduled to check for the existence of a particular file every minute:

If 'First Occurrence' is chosen, when System Scheduler checks for the existence of the file and finds that is is there, it will run the chosen 'Run Event'. The next time WS checks for the file, if it is still there it wont run the event as you have selected to only run on the 'First Occurrence'. When WS next checks for the file, if it is no longer there the job is effectively reset, so that next time the file appears it will be treated as a 'First Occurrence' again.

If you choose 'Every Occurrence' the chosen 'Run Event' will run every time WS checks for the existence of the file and finds that it is there.

Disable Event

Continuing with the above example. You can configure WS so that when the file is found to exist the first time, the job will be disabled so it will no longer even check for the existence of the file, the job is effectively suspended and remains suspended until you manually go into the job in the GUI and re-enable it.

Saving

Either click the Exit button and you will be prompted to save the reminder, or click the Action menu and Save.

Scheduling

File Watcher can be scheduled to check for a window run once, every minute, hour, day, month or year. See Scheduling Options for more information.


Uninstalling Scheduler

There is an automatic uninstaller with System Scheduler, this is usually displayed in the Programs - System Scheduler menu, and is labelled 'Uninstall System Scheduler'. If you wish to run the uninstaller manually, browse to the folder where you installed System Scheduler and run the 'unins000.exe' (Note: 000 may be a different number, always choose the highest numbered 'unins' file).

To get System Scheduler to just remove its registry entries and any services that may be installed you can browse to the folder where you installed System Scheduler using a command prompt and run ' Scheduler /UNINSTALL'.

Uninstalling System Scheduler Manually

First of all make sure System Scheduler is not running. Exit the tray-icon and stop the service if it is installed. The manual removal of System Scheduler requires editing the registry and you should only undertake this if you are familiar with registry editing.

1) Delete all files from wherever you installed Scheduler (usually C:\Program Files\WindowsScheduler)

2) Use REGEDIT and delete these keys (if they exist).

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Splinterware\Wincron

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Splinterware\Wincron

3) Use REGEDIT to remove the automatic startup of Scheduler. Delete the "WScheduler" line from the Run section of the registry (be careful NOT to delete the entire Run section by mistake).

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Also check this key, it will exist on Windows 9x/ME PC's configured to start before logon.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices

In the Run section there will be an entry called WScheduler that says (depending on where you installed to):

WScheduler                                C:\Program Files\WindowsScheduler\WScheduler.exe

Delete this WScheduler entry only.

Back to Introduction.


Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions.

Note: These questions and answers refer primarily to the Professional version of System Scheduler, some answers may not be available on the Free version.

Q) Will System Scheduler run tasks when logged off my Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7 Computer, or when the computer is 'locked'?

A) Yes, if you are running the Professional version of System Scheduler, but not the free version. The Professional version has the facility to run as a system Service . This means all tasks can be run while logged off. You can not send keypresses while logged off, sending keypresses requires interaction with the desktop which is not possible while logged off or while the computer is locked.

If you have not installed System Scheduler as a service, you need to go to the Preferences page, select the Services tab and click the Install Service button, then Start Service.

If you need to be logged in to run a certain application you can configure System Scheduler Professional to login automatically, or unlock the computer automatically. Then run the application and finally logoff or lock the computer again.

Q) Why doesn't System Scheduler send keypresses when the computer is locked?

A) The sending keypresses facility need to interact with the desktop in order to function correctly. When MS Windows is locked or logged off it prevents any application becoming the 'foreground' application, which is required if the application is to receive keypresses. To get around this limitation you should configure System Scheduler Professional to automatically unlock the computer, run the application, then lock the computer again.

Q) How do I backup my events, and/or copy them to another computer?

A) All events are stored in the \EVENTS sub-folder under where you installed the System Scheduler application. You just need to copy the .INI files (there is one .INI file per event). However on the destination computer although you can copy the .INI files into the \EVENTS sub-folder you need to 'signal' System Scheduler to re-read the list of events. You can either do this by running System Scheduler and saving any existing/new event or your can force System Scheduler to re-read the list by copying this file into the \EVENTS sub-folder:

Update.flg

Just create/copy empty files with these names into the EVENTS sub-folder, System Scheduler is setup to regularly check for the presence of update.flg and re-read the list of events if they are there. If System Scheduler is setup correctly you should see that the Update.flg disappears within a few seconds.

Q) Can System Scheduler Professional Auto-Logon the computer when it reboots?

A) Yes. For this to work you need to have 'Start BEFORE Logon' enabled for 9x/Me computers, or System Scheduler installed as a Service for or NT/2000/XP Computers.

Create a new 'Logoff/Logon' computer event, set it to 'Logon Computer' and enter the logon credentials to use. Now, to make this auto-logon happen on boot-up you need to set the 'Schedule' option to the following:

For 95/98/ME computers set to: On Scheduler Start

For NT/2000/XP/2003 computers set to: On Service Start

Both the above scheduling options occur just after the logon box appears. Now reboot the computer to test. Remember: the logon feature is affected by the 'Logon Keypresses' preferences, check the preferences are set correctly for your computer.

Note: For Vista/7 computers Microsoft changed the security model and System Scheduler can not currently do an automatic logon or unlock using the tecnhiques previously used. However System Scheduler has an option in Preferences to turn on Microsoft's own automatic logon feature - this does work for Vista and 7. See Auto Logon Computer for more information.

For more frequently asked questions, visit our website at:

http://www.splinterware.com/forum

Back to Introduction.


Windows Service

If you get the message "System Scheduler Service not running" this is because your are running the Professional version, and the part of System Scheduler that runs jobs while logged off "the Service" is not running. If the Service is not running then your scheduled events wont run while the computer is logged off, and other functionality may not work.

To correct this problem, go to System Scheduler - Preferences - Services tab and click 'Stop Service' then 'Start Service'. If that does not resolve the issue you should go through a full reinstall of the Service by clicking 'Stop Service', 'Remove Service', 'Install Service', 'Start Service'.

Background

When you run System Scheduler on a Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7 PC for the first time it will ask whether to install as a service so events can be run when logged off. Answering yes to this will take care of the installation. If you want to install as a service later, you can do this through the System Scheduler Preferences page, selecting the Services tab.

From version 3.0 System Scheduler Professional installs two services. One service called 'System Scheduler Service' is used for running tasks while logged off. The second 'System Scheduler Logon' Service is used by System Scheduler to auto-logon or auto-lock/unlock the computer.

Both services by default are configured to use the 'LocalSystem' account. The System Scheduler Service (used to run tasks) can be reconfigured to use a different account (e.g. if you wanted to run something that required Administrator privileges). But the System Scheduler Logon service should always be left as the 'LocalSystem' account and set to 'Interact with desktop'.

Install / Remove Service

Click the Install Service button to install the service on your Windows PC. When you view the service list through Service Manager you will see services called 'System Scheduler Service' and 'WS Logon' listed.

By default the System Scheduler Service will use the 'LocalSystem' account, and will be set to 'interact with the desktop'. You can specify an alternative login id and password for the service if you wish, for example if you needed to get System Scheduler to do something that the 'LocalSystem' account is not permitted to do, you can configure it to run under another account with higher privileges.

If you wish to remove the service click the 'Remove Service' button. Note, MS Windows may not immediately delete a service, rather it disables and marks it for deletion. Depending on how busy the system is it can be some time before the service is deleted.

Start / Stop Service

Use the start and stop service buttons to control whether the System Scheduler Services are running or not.

Sending Keypresses

The sendkeys feature of System Scheduler requires interaction with the desktop. When logged out no desktop is available therefore any tasks requiring keypresses to be sent must be run while the computer is logged in. If no one is logged in, System Scheduler Service will still run the application but the application will not receive any keypresses.

To get around this restriction you can setup a task to auto-logon the computer, then run the application task, and then logoff again.

Credentials

By default System Scheduler will use the currently logged in user credentials if a user is logged in. If no one is logged in then System Scheduler will run as a service using the service credentials (e.g. 'LocalSystem'). You can re-configure this behaviour for individual tasks. If you want a task to always be run by the Service, using the Service Credentials then you need to tick the box 'Always run this event using service credentials' - on the Advanced tab. Alternatively you can specify an individual user name and password whose credentials should be used to run an application.

Services in MS Windows do not have a user profiles associated with them, so if no one is logged in certain user profile options will not be available. For example, by default mapped network drive letters and user defined printers are not usually available to a service as these are defined by the users logged in profile. However, System Scheduler will automatically try to map network drives when running applications with the Service as long as this option is ticked in Advanced - Network Drives.

System Scheduler acquires the logged in user privileges by creating a second instance of itself when the user logs in, the first instance running as a service sits in the background and ignores any events that are not set to 'run using service credentials', letting the second instance take care of them. If the second instance (created by the logged in user) is stopped (either manually by the user, or as a result of the user logging off) then the first instance of System Scheduler (running as a service) takes over running all tasks again.


Shutdown/Restart

(System Scheduler Professional Only)

Shutdown/Restart option is used to shutdown/restart either your local or a remote computer. The restart REMOTE computer option is only available on NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7 or Higher, the account that runs a Remote Reboot job must have sufficient rights on the remote computer for it to accept the reboot command.

Title

This is the title for the event as listed in the 'View All Events' page. All Events

Computer

Select either the local computer, or a remote computer (NT/2000/2003/XP/Vista or above) to shutdown/reboot. If you select the remote computer option, you need to fill in the name of the computer to be shutdown.

Restart

Restart the computer after shutdown.

Shutdown

If the computer has an appropriate intelligent power supply you can send the power off signal along with shutdown.

Standby

Only on local computer. Will put computer into Standby mode, saving power, computer can be woken up from this.

Hibernate

Only on local computer. Will put computer into Hibernate mode, saving power, computer can be woken up from this.

Force Applications To Close

With a normal shutdown, windows will signal each application to close and wait for it to finish closing before shutting down. If an application has crashed or refuses to close it can prevent windows from shutting down. By selecting force applications to close windows will send all running application the terminate signal and wont wait for them confirm they have closed before shutting down.

Saving

Either click the Exit button and you will be prompted to save the reminder, or click the Action menu and Save.

Scheduling

Shutdown/Restart can be scheduled to check for a window run once, every minute, hour, day, month or year. See Scheduling Options for more information.


WindowsSchedulerProfessional

System Scheduler Professional

System Scheduler Professional contains all the features of the free version, plus more.

*Run as a NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7 Service (run tasks when logged off)

You can optionally run SS Professional as a NT/2000/XP/Vista/7 or higher service. This means you can schedule tasks to run while logged off (subject to the restrictions imposed on services).

*Extra support for Terminal Services

System Scheduler is Terminal Services aware and will modify it's behaviour to handle multiple logged in user sessions.

*Run As... Alternate Credentials

You can run jobs, either as the currently logged in user, using the 'Service' credential (as if you were logged out) or you can supply another username and password to use that users credentials using the 'Run As' feature.

*Handle missed jobs

If jobs or reminders are missed due to the computer being switched off, you can schedule these to run when the computer starts up again, either automatically or prompting you first.

*Process Watcher

Not only can you watch for specific Windows by caption, you can also check for specific processes.

*File Watcher

Check for the existence of specific files or folders (wildcards permitted), or check if folder is empty. Can be used as a trigger for other jobs.

*Shutdown/Reboot local and REMOTE computers

You can schedule a shutdown/reboot/standby/hibernate of the Computer System Scheduler is running on, or if you are using NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7 you can schedule the reboot of a remote computer (where you have sufficient rights to remote computer).

*Logoff/Logon Computer

Configure System Scheduler to Auto-Logon your computer unattended (even gets past the 'press CTRL+ALT+DEL to logon' security), using send key presses to logon (not Vista). Or Logoff when scheduled. In addition System Scheduler can switch on MS Windows own auto-logon feature in Preferences (this does work on Vista).

*Lock/Unlock Computer

For NT/2000/XP/2003 (not Vista) automatically lock or unlock computer. Useful if you want to schedule your computer to unlock during the night, run an application then lock again when finished.

*Wakeup Computer

You can schedule a wakeup from Standby or Hibernate for the local computer. Or for remote computers you can schedule them to wake up via a 'Wake on LAN' signal (requires remote computer to support WOL).

*Send Email

You can schedule a send email event using SMTP to run the same as any other scheduled job.

*Sequence of Events

If you want to run a sequence of events in a particular order then you can do this by creating a 'Sequence of Events' job type and adding in the events you want to run. This can then be scheduled separately.

*Run Events on Computer Logon and Logoff/Shutdown and Wakeup

Trigger events to run a user logs on - similar to Windows startup folder, in addition you can delay the event for x seconds after logon (up to one hour). Or when the user session ends as a result of logoff or shutdown, System Scheduler will optionally stop the shutdown in order to run some events.

*Run Events when the computer is Idle

You can configure how many idle minutes to wait before kicking off an event. Similarly there is a 'Cease Idle' event so you can run event when the computer is no longer idle after being idle for x minutes. (Idle means no keyboard or mouse activity).

*Run Events on System Scheduler Startup and Exit

Trigger events to run on Service Startup (usually when the computer boots up), Tray-Icon Startup (usually when user logs in), Tray-Icon Exit (when manually exiting System Scheduler or logging off).

*Date/Time Restrictions and Working Days

Specify job to run on working or non-working days. Also specify a date range or time range when the job can be run.

*Priority Email Support

Splinterware provides email support for all products (including evaluation and free versions) but priority is always given to registered customers.

*Upgrades for a year

You will be notified of any upgrades to System Scheduler and entitled to free major and minor upgrades for at least one year from purchase.

Download a 30 day evaluation of System Scheduler Professional from:

http://www.splinterware.com/download/wscheduler.zip


Sending Keypresses To DOS

In most cases sending keypresses to a Command Prompt (DOS) window will function exactly the same as sending keypresses to any other windows application.

There are a few things to watch out for:

DOS treats the % character as a special character for defining variables, whereas System Scheduler uses the % character as the ALT key modifier. When you actually want to send the % character enclose it in curly braces like this:

Sendkeys=echo {%}path{%}

You cannot use the special key token {CODE=xxx} with DOS windows as they do not correctly respond to the ALT + NUMERIC KEYPAD codes when sent programatically. For DOS windows there is an additional token {ASCII=xxx} which does a very similar thing but has access to a more limited character set.

The DOS window can have its own keyboard layout and code page loaded, so characters that appear correctly in a windows application may not appear the same in DOS. For example, you can type KEYB UK in a DOS window to get the UK keyboard layout or KEYB US to get the US one, some keys are different with each keyboard. To get round any conflict with characters you can try switching to a different keyboard layout before sending keypresses like this:

Sendkeys=KEYB UK{ENTER}{WAIT=1000}Here is a back slash {ASCII=92}

or

Sendkeys=KEYB US{ENTER}{WAIT=1000}Here is a back slash {ASCII=92}

In these two examples you will probably find that one keyboard layout will correctly produce a back slash, the other will produce a hash symbol.


Logon Keypresses

(System Scheduler Professional Only)

To create an event to logon the computer see Logoff/Logon Computer.

Any Logoff/Logon Computer event is affected by the 'Logon Preferences'. Here is an explanation of how System Scheduler can automatically logon to a computer.

This feature in System Scheduler does not use the auto-logon feature that can be configured in the WinLogon part of the registry of Windows Computers, the logon is done solely by System Scheduler. However System Scheduler can enable the MS Windows own automatic logon feature - Auto Logon Computer

Note. For Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 both the System Scheduler Services need to be running in order to logon. These are called 'System Scheduler Logon' and 'System Scheduler Service'.

Note:

'System Scheduler Logon' service should always be set to use the default 'LocalSystem' account, and 'Interact with Desktop' should be switched on.

'System Scheduler Service' can be configured to use an account with higher privileges than 'LocalSystem' if this is what you require.

System Scheduler can logon automatically. It does this by sending keypresses to the Logon Dialog Box. So, if you create a Logon Computer event and set the 'Username' and 'Password' as required, System Scheduler will send that username and password as a series of keypresses to the logon box.

In order to successfully manage logging on, System Scheduler needs to know some essential shortcut keys, these shortcut keys are used to select the username, password and domain edit boxes. Shortcut keys are the underlined letters that appear when you press the 'ALT' key at the logon dialog. By default on Windows NT they are ALT+U for Username, ALT+P for Password and ALT+D for Domain (ALT+L on Windows 2000/XP for 'Log on to').

In most cases the defaults in the 'Logon Keypresses' preferences will be correct but there are a few instances where you may want to change them, for example if you are using a Non-English version of Windows then the keyboard shortcuts will probably be different and can be changed. Also if your computer is configured to display a notice before the logon box appears then you need to send an extra ENTER keypress to get past this. Finally with Windows XP it can be configured to use or not use the 'press CTRL+ALT+DEL to logon' box.

Here are the main keypresses:

Note in System Scheduler, the percent % symbol denotes the ALT key. See Sending Keypresses for more info.

Shortcut Key |  | Marco
alt+u alt+p alt+d (or alt+l) alt+k Send Ctrl+Alt+Del ENTER (on OK button) | Username Box Select Password Box Select Domain Box Click Lock button Press Ctrl+Alt+Del prompt box Get past notification box that appears before logon | %u %p %d %k Check appropriate box {ENTER}

Delay Keypresses

If you computer is under-resourced it may take more than a few seconds between pressing 'CTRL+ALT+DEL' and the 'Lock Computer' dialog appearing. In that case, System Scheduler may send the lock computer keypress (%k) too early. To prevent this you can increase the Delay Keypresses option to the number of seconds required.

This delay is also inserted as part of the logon process to allow time for the logon box to appear. If you experience problems getting the auto-logon to work, try increasing this setting to allow time for the server to start up all the services before doing the auto-logon. In rare cases it has been required to increase this setting up to two minutes due to the amount of services (and the speed of the server).

Example

If you are running Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 and your computer displays an extra notification message between the 'Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to Logon' window and the Logon Dialog, you should probably have the 'Logon Keypresses' preferences set to this:


Logoff/Logon Computer

(System Scheduler Professional Only)

You can configure System Scheduler to automatically logon or logoff the computer.

Title

This is the title for the event as listed in the 'View All Events' page. All Events

Logoff

If scheduling a logoff no further configuration is required other than to schedule the logoff.

Logon

For logging on you need to specify a username and password. The domain setting is optional, if this is left blank then System Scheduler will accept the default as it appears in the logon dialog box.

System Scheduler sends keypresses to the logon dialog in order to cause an automatic logon. Some keypresses such as the shortcut keys for 'Username' and 'Password' need to be configured in the Logon Keypresses Preferences

Note: Encryption

Auto-Logon on Startup

System Scheduler can be configured to automatically log in the computer when it is started up or rebooted, see Auto-Logon for more information.

Saving

Either click the Exit button and you will be prompted to save the event, or click the Action menu and Save.

Scheduling

Tasks can be scheduled to run once, every minute, hour, day, month or year. See Scheduling Options for more information.


Auto-Logon

Auto-Logon Using Keypresses

You can configure System Scheduler to Auto-Logon the computer when it starts up or reboots.

Note: For Windows Vista the auto-logon used by System Scheduler sending keypresses does not work. Instead System Scheduler can turn on the MS Windows own auto-logon feature in Preferences. See Auto Logon Computer for more information.

Note: To Auto-Logon you need to have 'Start BEFORE Logon' enabled for Windows 9x/Me computers, or System Scheduler installed as a Service for NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista Computers.

First create a Logoff/Logon Computer event and set the Logon username and password as required. Now, to make this auto-logon happen on boot-up you need to set the 'Schedule' option to the following:

For Windows 95/98/ME computers set to: On Scheduler Start

For Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista computers set to: On Service Start

Both the above scheduling options occur just after the logon box appears. Now reboot the computer to test.

If the logon does not work, you should try increasing the 'Delay' before sending 'Logon Keypresses'.

Remember: the logon feature is affected by the 'Logon Keypresses' preferences, check the preferences are set correctly for your computer.


Lock/Unlock Computer

(System Scheduler Professional Only)

For Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 computers you can configure System Scheduler to automatically Lock or Unlock the console when the computer is logged in.

Note: For MS Windows Vista/7 computers the automatic Unlock feature can not be used.

Title

This is the title for the event as listed in the 'View All Events' page. All Events

Lock

If scheduling a Lock no further configuration is required other than to schedule the Lock.

Unlock

To unlock the computer you need to specify a username and password.

System Scheduler sends keypresses to the Unlock Computer dialog in order to cause an automatic Unlock. Some keypresses such as the shortcut keys for 'Username' and 'Password' and the 'Lock' button need to be configured in the Logon Keypresses Preferences

Note: For Windows Vista the unlock function does not work.

Note: Encryption

Auto-Locking on Idle

You can configure the computer to automatically lock if the keyboard and mouse have been idle for so many minutes. To do this use the 'On Idle' scheduling option and specify how many minutes to wait before locking the computer.

Saving

Either click the Exit button and you will be prompted to save the event, or click the Action menu and Save.

Scheduling

Tasks can be scheduled to run once, every minute, hour, day, month or year. See Scheduling Options for more information.


Advanced Tab

You have further control over how the event will run using the Advanced Tab.

RUN AS

In the Run As... section you can control the credentials System Scheduler will use when running the job.

Use logged in user credentials

This is the default choice. All jobs will run using the currently logged in users credentials. If the computer is logged out it will use the Service credentials. Remember, the System Scheduler Service does not necessarily have enough rights to run everything, by default it uses the LocalSystem account, though this account is quite powerful it is not as powerful as an Administrator account.

If you find your jobs run ok while logged in, but fail to run while logged out (and the 'Logfile.txt' indicates System Scheduler tried to run the job) then likely the problem is caused by the Service having insufficient credentials. You can change this through Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Services. Note: Make sure to only change the System Scheduler Service, do not change the System Scheduler Logon service.

Service Credentials

You can specify job always runs using the service credentials, even if a user is logged in. This is particularly useful if you know your Service has the right level of credentials to run the job and you don't want it to be affected by any logged in user credentials that may be different. Also, if the logged in user has very little rights you can use the Service to run the job using higher level rights (for instance, when using the Process Watcher event, a low level logged in user may not have the rights to terminate a particular process, whereas the System Scheduler Service running as LocalSystem may have.)

Always run as this user

This is particularly useful to run a specific application using another users credentials. You need to supply the username and password for that user. Remember, if that user ever changes his/her password the System Scheduler job will then be out of sync and will need to be updated to the latest password.

If you want to create a shortcut on your desktop to run a specific System Scheduler Event, you can do this using the separate 'RunNow.exe' program that comes with System Scheduler. This is useful if from time to time you need to run applications with elevated user privileges.

Services in NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista do not have a user profiles associated with them, so if no one is logged in certain user profile options will not be available. For example, mapped network drive letters and user defined printers are not usually available to a service as these are defined by the users logged in profile. However, if you specify to run as a specific user, you can tick the box 'Load profile settings for user', this will load some of the user specific environment such as mapped drives, home drive etc. In addition the Network Drives tab contains information on which drive letters System Scheduler will attempt to remap.

If you are running a job with the Service, and you do not wish the logged in user to see it running then you can un-tick the option Interact with the desktop if logged in, then the application will run invisibly in the background. Note some application prefer to run interactively and may not exit by themselves if run invisibly in the background.

Note: 'Run As...' is only available for 'Run Application' type jobs.

Run when Logged In or Out

Normally System Scheduler will try to run a scheduled event anytime System Scheduler is actually running. If System Scheduler is configured to run before logon on 9x/ME computers or configured as a service on Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 computers then it is possible to run events either logged on or logged off.

Sometimes there are events that you only want to run if the computer is logged on or alternatively when logged off. The third alternative is to run an event when only a certain username is logged on.

This is actually quite a powerful feature, here is a table to explain the logged in/out options.

DATE/TIME RESTRICTIONS

Stop Event

You can restrict how long an Application is allowed to run. By setting the Hours and Minutes, System Scheduler will monitor the Application and if it exceeds this time it will be terminated.

Day Types

Click Working Days for more info.

Date and Time Range

You can further control when the job is allowed to run. You can set a start date and end date, also a start time and end time.

Example 1: You may want to run a job with the main scheduling option Every Day at 7pm, however you only want it to start running daily from 1st September and stop running 30th September - you can configure the start and stop date in this date range setting.

Example 2: You may want a job to run Every Minute but only between 10.45pm and 11.15pm. You can configure the time range in this time range setting.

EVENT PROCESSING

This section gives you further control of when a job can run and post job/missed job processing.

Missed Events

If an event is missed due to the computer being switched off you can specify whether you want that job to run when the computer is switched back on:

'No Action': System Scheduler will not take any action regarding the missed job. It is missed and will be rescheduled as usual depending on the 'Schedule' setting.

'Run On Startup': will run the job automatically when System Scheduler starts up. For NT/2000/XP/2003 computers this is usually when the Service starts (before logon), for 9x/ME computers this can be before logon or after logon depending on how you have System Scheduler configured.

'Run After Logon': When the user logs on any overdue events will be run.

'Prompt After Logon': User will be prompted with a list of missed events and can choose to run or dismiss them.

Run once event

This only applies to events that are scheduled to run once. System Scheduler can automatically delete it afterwards if required. For popup reminders that are scheduled to run only once the default will be for this box to be checked, for all other events the default is unchecked.

NETWORK DRIVES

This indicates which drive mappings System Scheduler will attempt to remap before running the Application. This is particularly useful if your application has a reliance on particular drive letters being available, otherwise when running the Application under another users account of as the Service the drive letters may not be there (mapped drive letters are user specific). System Scheduler wont override existing drive mappings if the letter is already mapped.


Encryption

System Scheduler uses a proprietary encryption method in the event .INI files. This hides user names and passwords from any casual observer but should not be considered secure against a determined hacker. If you need further security you should consider using NTFS permissions to protect the .INI files.


Macros

In addition to being able to send special keys, you can substitute Macros in the text of the Sendkeys field to provide more flexible parameters.

Here is the list of currently available Macros:

{ENV=??}

Substitue environment variable. Examples of use:

Logged in user = {ENV=USERNAME}

{[TIME]}

Substitue DATE (see Notation below). Examples of use.

The time now is {[TIME]}

The time in hhmmss format is {[TIME],hhmmss}

Create a unique filename called: {[DATE],yyyyMMdd}{[TIME],hhmmss}.TXT

{[DATE]}

Substitue DATE (see Notation below). Examples of use.

The date today is {[DATE]}

The date yesterday was {[DATE]-1}

The date in mm/dd/yy format is {[DATE],MM/dd/yy}

The date yesterday in mm/dd/yy format is {[DATE]-1,MM/dd/yy}

Notation

Date Notation: d = day M = month y = year

Time Notation: h = hour m = minute s = second t = am or pm

h = 12 Hour H = 24 Hour

*Note: Month notation must be a capital M not small m.

{[DD]}

Substitute the day part of date.

We are on day {[DD]} of this month.

Tomorrow will be day {[DD]+1} of this month.

{[MM]}

Substitute the month part of date.

{[YY]},{[YYYY]}

Substitute the year part of date.

{CAPPSON}

Turn Caps Lock On

{CAPPSOFF}

Turn Caps Lock Off

{RESTORECAPS}

Restore caps lock to its previous state before sending keypresses.


Mouse Clicks

In the Sendkeys field that is mostly used for sending keypresses, special keys and macros there is also a limited facility to send mouse clicks.

The mouse click command consists simply of indicating which button to click (left or right) and the co-ordinates on the screen (x,y) to click. With the ability of windows to be on different parts of the screen often it is difficult to get a mouse click to always click the right co-ordinates, sometimes running an application maximized will help to guarantee that your mouse click command will always hit the right button or other control.

{LEFTCLICK=x,y}

Example of use in SendKeys:

Lets click a button{LEFTCLICK=5,10}

{RIGHTCLICK=x,y}

Example of use in SendKeys:

Lets make a popup menu appear{RIGHTCLICK=10,10}

{DOUBLECLICK=x,y}

Example of use in SendKeys:

Lets open an application{DOUBLECLICK=10,10}

To determine where on the screen to set the coordinates to, System Scheduler comes with an additional program called 'ShowXY.exe'. Browse to the folder where you have System Scheduler installed and run ShowXY.


Enable/Disable Event

(System Scheduler Professional Only)

Enable/Disable event provides an extra level of control over the scheduling of System Scheduler jobs. For example, you may want a job to run 'Every Minute' which you can set up through the normal scheduling options, but what if you only want it to run 'Every Minute' between 6pm and 7pm in the evening?

Use the Enable/Disable event option to effectively switch on and switch off existing scheduler events.

Title

This is the title for the event as listed in the 'View All Events' page. All Events

Enable/Disable Event

Choose whether to enable or disable an event.

Event

From the lookup list, choose which event you would like to enable or disable. Remember to set the scheduling option to enable or disable at the required time.

Saving

Either click the Exit button and you will be prompted to save the reminder, or click the Action menu and Save.

Scheduling

Window Watcher can be scheduled to check for a window run once, every minute, hour, day, month or year. See Scheduling Options for more information.


Process Watcher

(System Scheduler Professional Only)

Process Watcher is similar to the Window Watcher event, it watches for running Processes by process name rather than window caption.

Title

This is the title for the event as listed in the 'View All Events' page. All Events

Process Name

Process names usually takes the form of the filename that initiated the process. In this field you can enter either the full path to the filename or just the name of the file itself. If possible it is best to click the lookup button and choose the process from the list if it is already running.

Criteria

Either 'Process is running ' or 'Process is not running'. System Scheduler will check for the existence of the process as often as it is scheduled to run.

'Process is not responding (hung)': System Scheduler will send a message to the process and if it does not respond will assume it has hung and can take action.

Action

Based on the matching criteria. System Scheduler can either Terminate the Process (if it is running) or run another System Scheduler Event. If you want another event to be run you should set this up first so you can select it from the dropt down list.

Run Event

When the criteria is matched (i.e. the process is or is not running), you can specify another Event that is to be run. If you have chosen 'Terminate Process' in the Action field you can still run another event after the process has been terminated through this Run Event field.

Saving

Either click the Exit button and you will be prompted to save the reminder, or click the Action menu and Save.

Scheduling

Process Watcher can be scheduled to check for a process once, every minute, hour, day, month or year. See Scheduling Options for more information.


Terminal Services

(System Scheduler Professional Only)

System Scheduler includes support for Remote Desktop / Terminal Services. TS provides the facility for more than one user to be logged in to the same computer, they each have their own session. System Scheduler is TS aware and will handle multiple logged in users events.

Each logged in user gets their own running instance of System Scheduler, running as a tray-icon (wscheduler.exe). In addition, with the Professional version there is always another instance of System Scheduler running as a Service that takes care of jobs while logged off.

Terminal Services handles user privileges slightly differently. Users logged in through a remote session do not have the same rights as a user logged on directly at the machine, therefore System Scheduler has additional processing to handle user rights.

In the Remote Desktop preferences section you can explicitly grant additional rights to users logging into that server, you do this by specifying the username and domain and clicking the 'Enable privileges for this user' button, this will grant users additional privileges to still use System Scheduler's 'Run As...' feature in a remote session (something they would normally have if logged in locally).

To save the hassle of manually having to grant users extra privileges it is easiest to leave the option ticked 'Automatically grant special privileges to all TS/RDC user logging into this computer', then System Scheduler will handle this automatically when the user logs in. Please note: The granting of extra privileges does not take effect until after the user has logged out and back in again.


Scheduling Format

System Scheduler offers a flexible range of scheduling options, here is more detail on the hours and minutes scheduling and selecting monthly days:

Hours and Minutes

You can choose to schedule your job to run at a 'specific time' and enter the exact time of the day you want to run the job, or you can choose 'Select Hours and Minutes' for more advanced scheduling.

When you choose 'Select Hours and Minutes' you can choose a range of options from the drop-down hours box including 'Every Hour, Every 2 Hours etc. etc.'. If you choose one of these 'preset' options System Scheduler will fill in the Hours box to reflect your choice. However, you can choose the option 'User chosen hours' and specify exactly which hours of the day you want he job to run (separated by commas), for example if you wanted the job to run at 1pm and 3pm then you would choose:

'User Chosen Hours -->' 13, 15

The same applies for minutes. You can choose from the preset range System Scheduler provides or select your specific minutes of the hour you want the job to run. In the above example, setting your job to run at 1pm and 3pm you would have:

'User Chosen Hours -->' 13, 15

'User Chosen Minutes -->' 00

So this job would run at 13:00 and 15:00

If you wanted the job to run at 1.00pm, 1.15pm, 3.00pm and 3.15pm then you would have entries like this:

'User Chosen Hours -->' 13, 15

'User Chosen Minutes -->' 00,15

So this job would run at 13:00, 13:15, 15:00 and 15:15

Month Days

When choosing the 'Every Month' scheduling option you can choose between a specific day of the month, such as the 'First - Monday' or you can select specific dates of the month (separated by commas). So if you have a job you want to run on the 12th, 15th and 18th of the month, but no other dates you would select the 'Dates' radio button and enter 12,15,18.


Logged In/Out

The 'Run event when users are logged in or out' provides another level of control over when your scheduled jobs can run. Below is a table to indicate best use of these options:

 | NO users are logged in ticked. YES/NO | are logged in ticked. YES/NO | is logged in ticked. YES/NO
Event can run when NO users are logged in to the computer, or when ANY users are logged (default setting). Basically no restrictions to running events. | YES | YES | NO
Event can run ONLY when NO users are logged in. Useful if you want to ensure that all users have logged out before a job is run. | YES | NO | NO
Event can run ONLY when the SPECIFIED USER is logged in. That user must be logged in for the job to run (note for Terminal Services, other users can be logged in at the same time but job will only run if that SPECIFIED USER is also logged in). | NO | NO | YES
Event can run when SPECIFIED USER is logged in or NO USERS are logged in. (note for Terminal Services, if the specified user is not logged in the event will not run while other users are logged in. Either the specified user has to be logged in or ALL users have to be logged out for the event to run). | YES | NO | YES
Event can run when one or more users are logged in, but wont run if no users are logged in. | NO | YES | NO


Working Days

You can configure System Scheduler to have defined Working Days and non-Working Days of the week. Also you can specify Holidays. Both of these are available through 'Preferences - Work Days'.

When creating individual events, in the 'Advanced' tab, under 'Date/Time Restrictions' you can configure which day types the job can run on, either working, non-working or holidays. For example, if you schedule a job to run every day, and then un-tick non-working days, then the job will run every day except for non-working days.

In addition to defining the day types the job will run on, you can also specify Date Range and Time Range.

Date Range

Tick the box to turn on the date range option. Use the calendar to specify the start date and end date. Using this option you can restrict which dates a job can run on. For example, a job scheduled to run every day can be restricted to only run on all the dates between the start and end date.

Time Range

Tick the box to turn on the time range option. This can be used to specify the time range when the job can be launched (Note: This option is not used to terminate the application at the end time, the start and end time specify the time range when the job can be started). For example, if you schedule a job to run every 5 minutes, you can restrict the job to a time range of say 09.45am to 11.15am, then the job will run every 5 minutes from 09.45 to 11.15 every day.


Auto Logon Computer

System Scheduler has two ways to get your computer to logon automatically. The first one which works on all versions of Windows except Vista/7 uses the System Scheduler sending keypresses functionality to send login information to the login box, and is described in more detail in Auto-Logon.

The second option is to use MS Windows own built-in automatic logon feature, this works on all versions of Windows including Vista. System Scheduler has an option in Preferences to switch on this particular Windows feature:

Once the username, password and domain are filled in, you tick the Enable MS Windows Automatic Logon then System Scheduler will install the necessary registry entries that will get MS Windows to logon automatically. This requires administrator privileges.

Note: If you log in to a corporate network that implements domain policies, the corporate policy may overwrite the auto-logon changes when logging on, so on a subsequent reboot the auto-logon no longer works. To workaround this, you can configure System Scheduler to reapply the auto-logon settings on startup. To do this create a 'Run Application' job, scheduled to run 'On Logon' with these options:

Application: C:\Program Files\SystemScheduler\SSCMD.EXE

Parameters: AUTOLOGON ENABLE

SSCMD.EXE is a program you will find in the system scheduler folder, the parameters AUTOLOGON ENABLE must be in capitals. With this job scheduled to run On Logon, System Scheduler will reapply the settings to the registry, replacing the policy settings (you need sufficient privileges on the computer for this to work).

This MS Windows feature only automatically logs in on computer startup. The Auto-Logon using keypresses can actually be scheduled to run at a particular time, the computer does not have to be rebooted.


Send Email

Title

This is the title for the event as listed in the 'View All Events' page. All Events

Note: Your should make sure you have completed the Email Setup section in Preferences before sending emails.

From

Enter the email address you wish the the email to appear from. This can be any email address, but must be a valid email address format, like your.name@somewhere.com

To

Enter the email addresses you wish the the email to be sent to, separated by commas if more than one. This can be any email address, but must be a valid email address format, like your.name@somewhere.com

Subject

Enter the subject line for the email.

Message

Enter the body text of your email message

Attachment

You can attach files to your email. Use the button on the right to browse your local computer and select files, multiple files can be attached separated by commas.

Saving

Either click the Exit button and you will be prompted to save the reminder, or click the Action menu and Save.

Scheduling

Tasks can be scheduled to run once, every minute, hour, day, month or year. See Scheduling Options for more information.


Sequence of Events

Title

This is the title for the event as listed in the 'View All Events' page. All Events

Sequence

This table displays your sequence of other events or commands that have been configured to run as part of this event. When this job is executed, the events and commands will be run in top-to-bottom order. You can change the order events will be run in by using the up/down arrow buttons, and you can delete an event from the list pressing the delete [x] button.

Add Event

Click this button to add an extra event to the sequence list. You will be presented with a list of all the exiting events already set up in System Scheduler, you can choose these one at a time to be run in sequence.

Add Command

You can add special commands into the list that are not actually other events. Most commonly used commands include:

Wait until previous application closes: This is particularly useful to make sure the next event/command in the sequence is not run until the previous application has closed. There has to be a Run Application event in the sequence prior to this command in order for this to work.

Wait for x seconds: If you know how long your need the computer to wait before executing the next command/event this is the best option.

Wait until Window Opens/Closes: Can be used to track Applications by their Window Title, or detect particular popup messages.

Other commands will be added in future releases of System Scheduler

Saving

Either click the Exit button and you will be prompted to save the reminder, or click the Action menu and Save.

Scheduling

Tasks can be scheduled to run once, every minute, hour, day, month or year. See Scheduling Options for more information.


Email Setup

System Scheduler has the facility to send emails. Before using the send email event, configure your SMTP email settings in Preferences.

Default From

Enter the email address you wish the the email to appear from. This can be any email address, but must be a valid email address format, like your.name@somewhere.com

SMTP Server

Enter the name of the SMTP server that System Scheduler should send the emails to.

Port Number

Set the port number for the SMTP server you are using, the default port is 25, however your SMTP server may have been configured to use a different port.

SMTP Authentication

If your SMTP server requires authentication then tick this box and enter your login and password details. In addition you may need to tick the option to use Secure Password Authentication if your provider uses that.

Recipients

To test your email configuration, enter a recipient and click the Send Test Email button


Wakeup Computer

System Scheduler has a Wakeup Computer feature for local or remote computers.

For the local computer, System Scheduler will install a hook into the operating system so that if the computer is in Standby or Hibernate mode then it can be scheduled to wake up at a particular time. You can not wake up a local computer that is completely shutdown using this option.

For remote computers on the Local Area Network, these can be woken up remotely, even from a completely shutdown state. For this to work the remote computer must have Wake On LAN enabled (usually a feature in the BIOS setup), and have power attached. You can check whether the computer can potentially be woken up using WOL by shutting down the computer then having a look at the network cable connection in the back of the computer. For many computers with WOL enabled you will be able to see a small light in the corner of the network port where the cable is connected, even though it is shut down.

Title

This is the title for the event as listed in the 'View All Events' page. All Events

Local / Remote Computer

Decide whether you wish to wake up a local computer or remote.

Remote Computer Names

Enter the name of the remote computer to wake up. This can either be the computer name itself, or MAC Address.

Using computer names, in this format:

COMPUTER1,COMPUTER2

Using MAC Addresses, in this format "MAC:XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX":

MAC:00-00-00-00-00-00,MAC:AE-AE-AE-AE-AE-AE

Note: The WOL feature actually requires the MAC Address of the computer to send it the wakeup packet, if a computer name is supplied then System Scheduler will attempt to retrieve the MAC Address from network records, either held locally or via DNS/Active Directory.

Saving

Either click the Exit button and you will be prompted to save the reminder, or click the Action menu and Save.

Scheduling

Tasks can be scheduled to run once, every minute, hour, day, month or year. See Scheduling Options for more information.


Utilities

ShowXY.exe

System Scheduler comes with an additional application called ShowXY.exe. You will find this in the same folder and the System Scheduler program itself.

ShowXY.exe can be used to determine mouse coordinates where you may want to send mouseclicks during the execution of particular jobs.

RunNow.exe

Can be used to run one of System Scheduler jobs immediately. It takes a job name as a parameter like this:

RunNow.exe 2010101253.INI

Note the .INI file must exist in the \Events sub-folder, and System Scheduler program itself must be running.

PlayWAV.exe

This application can play a WAV file directly (not using the default Media Player). It is useful if you wish to set up System Scheduler to trigger audio alarms. To use simply create a Run Application job and specify which WAV file you would like to play:

Application: PlayWAV.exe

Parameters: C:\SomeWAVfile.wav


Vista/7

 Top Previous

System Scheduler (free version) works on all versions of Windows from 2000 through to Windows 7 (earlier versions also work on Windows 9x).

System Scheduler Professional contains many enhanced features that interact very closely with the operating system in order to function. All of the Professional features work on Windows XP / Server 2003 and similar versions of Windows. However, from Windows Vista Microsoft has made some substantial changes to the underlying operating system that means some features of System Scheduler Professional will no longer work, or will work differently.

These are differences to be aware of for Windows Vista and Windows 7:

Automatic Logon and Unlock

System Scheduler sends keypresses to the Logon/Unock dialogue in order to automate these features. Vista/7 security model prevents applications interacting with these parts of the operating system, so automatic logon and unlock no longer work. Note: We've added the facility to turn on MS Windows own automatic logon function in System Scheduler Preferences, this works on all versions of Windows including Vista and 7.

Running events On Shutdown / Logoff

For Windows XP, System Scheduler will stop the Shutdown/Logoff, run the Events, then continue Shutdown/Logoff. From Vista/7 Microsoft have changed the operating system so that applications can no longer stop the Shutdown/Logoff once it has started, therefore events scheduled to run On Shutdown / Logoff will no longer run.