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Q237840: Soon.exe Schedules Tasks for Next Day Instead of Current Day

Article: Q237840
Product(s): Microsoft Windows NT
Version(s): WINDOWS:5; winnt:4.0 SP4,4.0 SP5
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbtool
Last Modified: 10-AUG-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 4.0 SP4, 4.0 SP5, on platform(s):
   - the operating system: Microsoft Windows NT 
- Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5 for Windows NT 4.0, on platform(s):
   - the operating system: Microsoft Windows NT 
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation versions 4.0 SP4, 4.0 SP5, on platform(s):
   - the operating system: Microsoft Windows NT 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SYMPTOMS
========

When you schedule a task using the Soon tool (Soon.exe) included with the
Windows NT 4.0 Resource Kit, the task may be scheduled for the next day instead
of the current day.

NOTE: This behavior may occur with other tools that call the AT command.

CAUSE
=====

This behavior occurs when Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 is installed on your
computer.

After you install Internet Explorer 5, the Scheduler service is replaced by Task
Scheduler. Task Scheduler checks the task list every minute, instead of every
second like the Scheduler service. Therefore, the AT command is modified so that
it schedules a task for tomorrow if the specified time is equal to the actual
system time, and the seconds are ignored. For example:

At 10:00:00, you type the following command:

  at 10:00:05 /interactive notepad.exe

This task is scheduled for tomorrow because of the behavior described in this
article. However, the task is scheduled for today and Notepad.exe starts in one
minute, if you type the following command:

  at 10:01:00 /interactive notepad.exe

By default, Soon.exe calls the AT command with the actual system time plus five
seconds. For example, using Soon.exe at 10:00:55 works fine, but from 10:00:00
until 10:00:54 the task is scheduled for tomorrow. This behavior occurs because
of the "new" way the AT command interprets the specified time.

WORKAROUND
==========

To work around this issue, use Soon.exe and specify a delay with a minimum of 60
seconds. To do this, use the appropriate method:

- Call Soon.exe and specify the delay parameter.

- Call "soon.exe /l [delay]" (without the quotation marks) to set the default
  delay for local jobs.

- Call "soon.exe /r [delay]" (without the quotation marks) to set the default
  delay for remote jobs.

Additional query words: reskit

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbtool 
Technology        : kbWinNTsearch kbWinNTSsearch
Version           : WINDOWS:5; winnt:4.0 SP4,4.0 SP5
Issue type        : kbprb

=============================================================================

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