run schtasks without andministrator privileges? Widnows 7 +

[vailixi]

I'm trying to schedule a startup application with schtasks on a Windows 7 box. I get Access Denied. schtasks works without administrator privileges if you are setting it for specfic time of day but not with startup tasks. Is there a tricksy way to schedule startup tasks on Windows 7 and later without being admin?

[digip]

Open a cmd windows, and type at and enter("at" is kind of like cron jobs but works like scheduled tasks). If you get access denied, then probably no, and need to elevate to admin.

​Can also try run > taskschd.msc and then try a basic task, see if it allows you to create them.

If all you need is something to run on startup though, create a shortcut in:

C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\

where yourusername is the profile sign on, which can link to any file on the system. It runs in the context of the user though, and if requires admin for extended capabilities, edit the shortcut to allow run as admin under properties > advanced > check box for run as admin.

[vailixi]

Is there a straight forward way to create a shortcut via command prompt? There are some java libraries that will do it. There's SWT Win32 Extension for eclipse but it looks overly complicated at first glance. There are some VBS that does it. But I'm trying to get this all to go in the same language. All of the install wizzards give you the option to create a shortcut.

Back in the day there was something called shortcut.exe. Is there a modern equivalent to that for newer versions of Windows?

Edited August 26, 2015 by vailixi

[digip]

You could give this a try - http://superuser.com/questions/392061/how-to-make-a-shortcut-from-cmd but why not using the normal right click create shortcut? you can drop an exe in the startup folder, but a shortcut is preferred since you just delete the shortcut when you don't want it to run on startup.

[vailixi]

Very nice digip. I think this is way a ninja would do it.