Schedule Tasks Remotely in Domain in Windows XP Environment

In an Organization, scheduling and managing tasks is a part of day-to-day activities of a System Administrator. By scheduling tasks, the System Administrator determines the automatic execution of programs, scripts, or batch files on a computer to complete a specific operation on a pre-determined time. In addition with scheduling new tasks, the System administrator also needs to manage the already scheduled tasks along with the tasks that are scheduled automatically with a software application. You might have noticed a dialog box that automatically pops up on your computer screen prompting you that "??updates are ready for "??xyz"?? software. Click Yes to install updates or click cancel to close the dialog box."?? That dialog box is the result of the task scheduled with the "??xyz"?? software.

A scheduled task run in background can also affect the system performance. Therefore, the system administrator needs to efficiently manage the scheduled tasks so that there will be no adverse affect on system"??s performance. Scheduling and managing tasks on a computer is a difficult and time-consuming process. And when you have to schedule and mange tasks on a large number of computers in a domain then the operation becomes more tedious and time-consuming. In that scenario, Organization has to employ more help desk technician(s), which becomes an additional expense for the organization. Moreover, the system administrator or help desk technician has to personally visit each computer in domain to schedule or manage tasks.

This article provides system administrators the easiest way to schedule and manage tasks in a large domain without personally visiting computers in that domain. However, to schedule and manage tasks on remote computers, you must have admin rights of computers. In addition, the remote computer must have a share of the drive in which the Tasks folder is present. By default, the Tasks folder can be found at the following location in Windows XP:

%SystemRoot%Tasks

By default, %SystemRoot% represents C:Windows

Schedule/Manage Task on a Remote Computer in a Domain

Execute the following steps to schedule or manage tasks on a remote computer in a domain:

1. Click Start > My Network Places. The My Network Places window appears.

2. Click the Entire Network link in the Other Places section from the left panel. The Entire Network window appears.

3. Double-click the Microsoft Windows Network icon to access the domain. The Microsoft Windows Network window appears where you can see available domain and Workgroup.

4. Double-click the domain. A list of the computers configured in that domain appears.

5. Double-click the computer on which you want to schedule or manage tasks.

6. Now, double-click the shared drive and access the Tasks folder.

Note: Scheduling tasks directly on a remote computer is not allowed in Windows XP. Therefore, to schedule task on remote computer, first schedule a task on local computer then copy it in the Tasks folder on remote computer.

7. Right-click the task that you want to manage and select one of the following operations:

. Run: Enables you to execute the selected task

. Delete: Enables you to delete the selected task

. Rename: Enables you to rename the selected task

. Properties: Enables you to modify the location, day, date, and time related settings for the scheduled task.

8. Depending on the operation you select, you can manage tasks on the remote computer in a domain.

This way you can schedule/manage tasks on remote computers in a domain. The process explained above can be a help for system administrators in small organizations but not in large organizations where multiple domains exists. This is because of the following limitations in Windows XP:

. You cannot directly schedule a task on remote computer. You have to create task on local computer and then you can copy it to remote computer.

. To access the Tasks folder, you have to share the drive in which it is available. Therefore, you have to personally visit every computer to share that drive. Furthermore, sharing a drive on network is never recommended as it may contain confidential data.

To overcome the preceding limitations and automate the process of tasks scheduling on remote computers in a domain, system administrators prefer using third-party software tools like Chily  Active Directory Management and Reporting (CADMR). With the self-descriptive and intuitive user interface, the Chily Active Directory Management and Reporting is an ideal tool for system administrators. The software provides the system administrators a central location to schedule and manage tasks on a large number of workstations in multiple domains. Therefore, eases tasks scheduling and saves substantial time of system administrators, which is wasted in visiting remote computers. With Chily Active Directory Management and Reporting, the system administrator can easily schedule and manage jobs on remote computers without disturbing the employees.