Answer Line: Stop Would-Be Notebook Thieves in Their Tracks
Practical laptop security measures for road worriers.
Lincoln Spector
Migrate Scheduled Tasks
I've set up scheduled tasks on my system, some based on your July 2005 column ["Let Windows Handle PC Maintenance for You"]. I'd like to share these tasks with other people. How do I copy them to another PC?
Scott Klein, Green Bay, Wisconsin
A scheduled task is simply a file with the extension .job that's stored in the C:\Windows\Tasks folder. You could copy the files from your Tasks folder to the same folder on someone else's system.
Since people seldom share Scheduled Tasks folders over a network (and they shouldn't), "sneakernet" the files instead, by copying them to a floppy, CD, or USB drive and then loading them manually onto the other PC. Alternatively, you could copy the .job files to a shared folder and grab them on the other computer.
Now right-click the task on the new machine and select Run. If it doesn't work, double-click the task to open its properties. Make sure the program that the task runs is installed on the second PC. Also verify that the path to that program is listed correctly next to Run under the Task tab. To find the program's path, select its .exe or .cmd file in Windows Explorer and look in the Address bar. XP tasks require a user's log-in password. For instructions on adding a password to a task, visit "Synchronize Important Folders on Two Computers" and scroll to the last paragraph of the tip from my July 2003 column.
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