Resume computer to run a scheduled task.

[Phenomic]

I’m running XP Task Scheduler to wake the computer and run a batch file. However, Scheduler also turns on the screen! It’s NOT supposed to turn on the monitor. Is there a way to set XP to not turn on the screen when it wakes up from S3 to run a scheduled task? Windows 2000 scheduler works correctly, why did they screw up XP so much?

[MrJinje]

Could try nircmd, add this line in your batch

nircmd.exe monitor off

Edited May 1, 2010 by MrJinje

[Phenomic]

This is how the scheduler is supposed to work:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q283270/

but my XP SP3 is turning on the screen. It's possible for rogue apps to generate keystrokes or mouse events, but my .cmd file only runs AVG9 virus scan (avgupd.exe and avgscanx.exe), I've run these for years in Win2k and the screen never comes on.

Can anybody guess why the scheduler turns on the screen in the middle of the night?

Edited May 6, 2010 by Phenomic

[cluberti]

I would wonder if there's some sort of video driver issue (I guess it could be another driver) - the screen should only awake for keyboard or mouse events, so it would be interesting to remove the keyboard and mouse (assuming they're USB) before it goes to sleep and see what happens.

[Phenomic]

I would wonder if there's some sort of video driver issue (I guess it could be another driver) - the screen should only awake for keyboard or mouse events, so it would be interesting to remove the keyboard and mouse (assuming they're USB) before it goes to sleep and see what happens.

Thanks. I removed the USB mouse before suspending and the screen still lights up when WinXP resumes to run task. I also replaced Hewlett-Packard PS2 keyboard with IBM USB, just in case the keyboard was defective or incompatible... but WinXP still turns on the screen when it resumes from S3.

I usually boot Linux to see if a symptom persists, and if it does then it's a hardware or BIOS problem and not a sotftware problem... but I haven't used Linux gnome-schedule yet.

[Phenomic]

Also, there is a known bug where Scheduled Task Wizard stops responding... which afflicts my WinXP.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/841846

I did the recommended fix but problem is still there. So maybe that's why Task Scheduler is messed up?

[MrJinje]

If it just started happening recently, could try a system restore and go back to before it began.