At--Notes

The at command requires you be a member of the local Administrator group. Also, the at command does not automatically load cmd, the command interpreter, before running commands. Unless you are running an executable (.EXE) file, you must explicitly load CMD.EXE at the beginning of the command; for example, cmd /c dir > c:\test.out.

Viewing Scheduled Commands

The at command has two displays. When you use at without options, you see a display similar to the following:

STATUS ID Day Time Command Line

0 Each F 04:30PM net send group leads status due

2 Each M 12:00AM chkstor > check.fil

3 Each F 11:59PM backup2.bat

When you include the identification number for the command, the display provides information for a single entry and is similar to the following:

Task ID: 0

Status: OK

Schedule: Each F

Time of Day: 04:30PM

Command: net send group leads status due

After you schedule a command with at (especially a command that has option variables), check that the command is entered properly by typing at without options. If the information in the “Command Line” column isn’t correct, delete the command and retype it. If it still isn’t correct, retype the command with fewer option variables.

Viewing Results

Commands scheduled with the at command run as background processes, so no output is displayed on the computer’s screen. To redirect output to a file, use the redirection symbol (>). If you redirect output to a file, enclose the name of the command you are scheduling in quotation marks. The current directory for the executing command is the %systemroot% directory.

Changing System Time

If you change the system time at a computer after scheduling a command to run with at, synchronize the at scheduler with the revised time by typing at without options.

Storing Commands

Scheduled commands are stored in the registry, so scheduled tasks are not lost if you have to restart the Schedule service.

Connecting to Network Drives

Scheduled jobs that access the network should not use redirected drives made by the user. The Schedule service may not be able to access these drives and they may not be present if a different user is logged on at the time the scheduled job runs. Instead, scheduled jobs should use UNC paths. For example,

at 1:00pm my_backup \\server\share

and not

at 1:00pm my_backup x:

where x: is a connection made by the user.

If you schedule an at command that uses a drive letter to connect to a shared directory, you should include an at command to disconnect the drive when you are finished using it. If the drive is not disconnected, the drive letter assigned will not be available or seen at the command prompt.

More Information About At

At

At--Examples