Scheduled Tasks in 2000 Server

[Brian]

I've got a client with a centralized server and three remote locations. The server at the main office runs a nightly backup via BackupMyBusiness. However the remote locations must first FTP their daily backups to the main office so that they can be backed up as well.

At all three remote locations I have created a script that will zip their daily backups and then FTP them to the main office server on a nightly basis.

Two of the locations run these scripts with no problem. The third location, however, refuses to run the scripts at all. Here's the breakdown:

I used task manager to schedule the scripts to run at night.
There is a different script for each night of the week.
I am using the same scripts that work at the other two locations.
The Task Scheduler service is running on the server.
The tasks are set to run under the admin account and I have the correct password entered.
If I run the tasks manually they run without any problems.
The "Next Run Time" column in Task Schedular changes to reflect the next time the task is scheduled to run.
The "Last Run Time" column indicates the task never ran.
The "Status" column is blank.
The "Last Result" column indicats a status of 0x0 for each event. (No errors)
And the "Creator" column indicates they were created by Administrator

I have tried to find a solution to no avail. I know that the tasks are setup correctly since they will run manually. The account/password is setup correctly. The tasks simply don't run when they are scheduled and the SchedLgU.TXT file doesn't indicate any errors.

Does anybody out there have any ideas? I have done a side by side comparison of the Scheduled Tasks config for this server with the same set from one of the servers that works and they look identical.

[ChrisGwinn]

Is the task scheduler service enabled and running? The UI will still work without it, but the task won't get started.

[Biyobi]

I had a client that complained his backups never worked. They were set to go off every night at midnight and I know that the script worked because I could run it while I was there. Drove me batty.

One day I was there finishing some updates to the server as they were closing up the office. The secretary came by (she's past retirement age and works to keep busy) and asked me if I would shutdown "those computers" for her since she had to leave right away. Apparently, when the boss told her to make sure her computer was shutdown every night, she took it to mean that *every* computer was shutdown as well.

After the pain from the aneurysm went away I was able to laugh about it.

[Brian]

Is the task scheduler service enabled and running? The UI will still work without it, but the task won't get started.

To quote myself from my first post:

The Task Scheduler service is running on the server.

And I doubt they're turning off the server since it's in a locked cabinet.

I put it in the locked cabinet due to one time when they did turn off the server by unplugging the UPS so they could plug in a TV. They were down most of the day before deciding to call me. Hairdressers. Oy.

On the plus side most of them are hot so I don't mind going there for service calls.

Plus I get free haircuts.

[ChrisGwinn]

You know, even after that post I couldn't find that you mentioned the service until I did a find on the page. It's one of those days...

We did have a problem like this with a server once, unless we rebooted it every couple of months. I'm not sure that we ever figured out why.

[Brian]

No worries.

I still haven't found a solution though. I've scoured TechNet and just about every tech site I can think of but haven't come up with anything usable.

Maybe I'll just have to log on remotely every night and run the backups manually.