Vernalex.com - Welcome

Display Name (?):

Task Scheduler

Short Name (?):

Schedule

Executable (?):

svchost.exe or mstask.exe

Library (?):

schedsvc.dll

Depends On (?):

Remote Procedure Call (RPC)

Supports (?):

Remote Storage Engine, Remote Storage File, Remote Storage Media, Remote Storage Server

Description (?):

Enables a user to configure and schedule automated tasks on this computer. If this service is stopped, these tasks will not be run at their scheduled times. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.

OS (?):

2000 Professional, XP Home/Professional, Vista Home/Business, 2000 Server, Server 2003, Vista Server

Startup (?):

Default	Home	Workstation	Server	Minimal	Tweaked	Automatic
Automatic	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled

Explanation (?):

The task scheduler service is used in executing programs on a set schedule. In older versions of Windows this functionality was provided by the command-line AT command, but the latest versions of Internet Explorer provide extended support through this service. The execution events can be set on a fairly dynamic schedule, but this service does not provide any native macro support. Therefore this service is mainly used for performing time maintenance such as defragmenting your computer while you sleep or performing a scheduled restart. It should also be noted that this service uses TCP port 135 to allow remote task scheduling, so having this service on is a possible security issue.

This service is not required for Windows to run, and by default there are no tasks assigned to it. It should be noted that several programs, including many antivirus programs, use this service. However, this service can be safely disabled if you do not have any scheduled tasks. This service is basically a monitor program that checks the schedule against the current time and executes a program when the set time arrives. So, if you disable this service then any assigned tasks will not execute at the appropriate times. If you disable this service you will free up a little CPU time and memory.