Task Scheduler Problem

Fisher99 · Sunday at 7:36 PM

Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2: Build 22631.5126

I have created a basic task in Task Scheduler to launch a "Print PDF" program and automatically print a PDF file. Works fine if I right click on the task and choose "Run". Works fine if I schedule it for 2-3 hours ahead.

However, if I try to make it a daily task, to run at 7:00 AM each day, it doesn't run. I have it set to run daily and recur every 1 day. What am I missing?

I should also note that at first I thought that maybe it wasn't running the next morning because the PC was in "sleep" mode. I put a check mark in the "Wake the computer to run this task" box on the "Conditions" screen and that didn't solve the problem.

To further test this, I set my PC to sleep after 10 minutes of inactivity and then scheduled my task to run 20 minutes later. The PC went to sleep and the task ran perfectly in 20 minutes. Then, just to further test, I left sleep mode at 10 minutes and scheduled to task to run 4 hours later. Again, it worked perfectly. But when I switch the task to run at 7:00 the next morning it does not run. Seems like it is fine if scheduled to run the same day but doesn't run when scheduled for a future day.

antspants · Sunday at 7:53 PM

Hi, welcome.

Is Print PDF an executable file? If so, can you not add it with the rest of your Windows startup programs?

Also, any chance you could screenhoot every page in the task for us?

antspants · Sunday at 7:58 PM

Fisher99 said:
Scheduler to launch a "Print PDF" program and automatically print a PDF file

Sorry, my brain didn’t register that.
Screenshots would be good

idgat · Sunday at 7:58 PM

Try the alternative option Create task ... (cf. Create basic task ... option). It offers a different range of parameters

antspants · Sunday at 8:01 PM

idgat said:
Try the alternative option Create task ... (cf. Create basic task ... option). It offers a different range of parameters

From the looks of the post, a basic task is what was created.

idgat · Sunday at 8:07 PM

antspants said:
From the looks of the post, a basic task is what was created.

That's what I'm saying, Task Scheduler has 2 options - Create basic task ... (which appears to be the OP's choice) and Create task .... - the latter has more definitive parameter options that may suit the OP's requirements

antspants · Sunday at 8:13 PM

Fisher

As a task, I believe these settings should work. I am wondering if it's because of some kind of hibernation state on your HP

antspants · Sunday at 8:15 PM

idgat said:
That's what I'm saying, Task Scheduler has 2 options - Create basic task ... (which appears to be the OP's choice) and Create task .... - the latter has more definitive parameter options that may suit the OP's requirements

Yeah sorry, misread.

Fisher99 · Sunday at 9:42 PM

Here are my screenshots.

Fisher99 · Sunday at 9:45 PM

@antspants : I was wondering exactly the same thing (possible hybernation issue?), which is why I tried scheduling for 3-4 hours after I knew it would go to sleep, and it worked perfectly. Only fails when the schedule is for the next day. Is it possible that over a longer period of time (say 8 hours) that it goes into a deeper sleep than standard sleep mode? Is there a way to control that? I am currently set to turn off monitor in 10 minutes and put device to sleep after 10 minutes. I don't see anything for hybernate.

Fisher99 · Sunday at 10:00 PM

idgat said:
Try the alternative option Create task ... (cf. Create basic task ... option). It offers a different range of parameters

I will take a look at that.

antspants · Sunday at 10:02 PM

Fisher99 said:
Is it possible that over a longer period of time (say 8 hours) that it goes into a deeper sleep than standard sleep mode?

Very possibly. There are members here that understand Modern STANDBY a lot better than I do. Hopefully someone will pick up.

Also: The images I posted above are for “Create Task” not Basic task.

antspants · Sunday at 10:04 PM

Perhaps you could disable Modern Standby and check out what happens?

Disable Modern Standby in Windows 10 and Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to disable Modern Standby (S0 Low Power Idle) to enable S3 support on a Windows 10 and Windows 11 device. In Windows 10 and Windows 11, there are two power models for PCs: S3 and Modern Standby (S0 Low Power Idle). The S3 power model is an older standard and is...

www.elevenforum.com

I am not aware if your HP supports Modern Standby or not.
This tutorial covers a lot. Worth a read through.

antspants · Sunday at 10:10 PM

These may also be helpful

See Sleep States Available on Windows 11 PC

This tutorial will explain and show you how to see the power sleep states available on your Windows 11 PC. System power states describe the power consumption of the system as a whole. The operating system supports six system power states, referred to as S0 (fully on and operational) through S5...

www.elevenforum.com

Check if Modern Standby is Supported in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to check if the Modern Standby (S0 Low Power Idle) sleep state is supported by your Windows 10 or Windows 11 PC. In Windows 10 and Windows 11, there are two power models for PCs: S3 and Modern Standby (S0 Low Power Idle). The S3 power model is an older standard...

www.elevenforum.com

Fisher99 · Sunday at 10:12 PM

antspants said:
Very possibly. There are members here that understand Modern STANDBY a lot better than I do. Hopefully someone will pick up.

Also: The images I posted above are for “Create Task” not Basic task.

I'm going to be out of town for the next couple of days but will look into "Create Task" when I get back. Did you see anything in my screenshots from "Create basic task" that raised a red flag?

antspants · Sunday at 10:17 PM

Fisher99 said:
will look into "Create Task" when I get back. Did you see anything in my screenshots from "Create basic task" that raised a red flag?

I actually totally missed those. I believe that is “Create Task” not Basic Task.

In the last image. I would suggest enabling “Run Task As Soon As Possible After A Scheduled Task Is Missed”
The second option in the “Settings” tab.

Fisher99 · Sunday at 11:54 PM

antspants said:
I actually totally missed those. I believe that is “Create Task” not Basic Task.

In the last image. I would suggest enabling “Run Task As Soon As Possible After A Scheduled Task Is Missed”
The second option in the “Settings” tab.

Thanks. I was using "Create Basic Task". I made that change that you suggested. We'll see what happens in the morning.

idgat · 2025-03-31T02:37:23-0400

antspants said:
In the last image. I would suggest enabling “Run Task As Soon As Possible After A Scheduled Task Is Missed”

Yeh, I think this is what's needed

I have absolutely no basis for the following hypothesis, but ...
- a task is set to run
- the task runs (but at this point, the computer is still asleep)
- the task wakes the computer
- but by the time the computer wakes, the task has already encountered a sleeping computer, and stops

Can't speak from experience because I never use Sleep and/or Hibernate

hdmi · 2025-03-31T04:47:52-0400

There have been a few bugs/quirks in Task Scheduler for many, many years so this might be worth giving a shot, but I never tried to experiment with the "on a schedule" trigger option myself.

Although you'd normally expect it to run daily after you've already just put it on a daily schedule, try enabling "Repeat task every:" and then click on 1 hour next to it, then type in 1 d and press Enter. Do not change "for a duration of:" to Indefinitely, instead just leave it at its default (1 day). See if that fixes it. (The other possible workaround, which is to update the Start Date to the current day, might not seem very feasible if it implies that you need to update the Start Date every time after you re-enable the task.)
See: Windows Task Scheduler does not start task at next run time

Fisher99 · 2025-03-31T10:30:33-0400

Well, the "Run task as soon as possible after a scheduled start is missed" setting didn't do the trick. I am heading out of town for the next couple of days but will try the suggestions posted by @hdmi when I get back. Thanks to all of you for your help on this!

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