Task Scheduler - On Idle

Please post screenshots of your Task definition so we can see what settings you are using.

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It sounds to me that the task is running as soon as Windows enters its Idle state. This is not a property of the task but of the power scheme, which contains difficult-to-get-at settings for several devices including the CPU. You can alter the Idle state for the CPU by using the built-in utility PowerCfg but it has a steep learning curve so it might not be worth the effort.

If you do not want the task to take any action when Windows reaches its Idle state then your easiest solution might be to insert a waiting period at the start of the script.

Denis

Bish,

Well, I think you have done everything correctly and these guides also agree with you
Understandingthe Task Scheduler Interface – Erwin
TS- Task Idle Conditions MSDN

In a ServerFault thread, a user reported the same fault as you and confirmed the behaviour on several other computers. I’d say it’s a Windows bug and you could report it using the Feedback App.
TaskScheduler - Task Idle Conditions - ServerFault

Task scheduler is very old, like Event viewer & Disk management, and MS might have a quiet ban on any tinkering with it. They might quietly regard it as deprecated and are thinking about a complete reimplementation at some unspecififed time in the future.

In the meantime, I suggest that you insert a waiting period in your script to cope with the problem. Since you are running a batch file, the command TimeOut will do the job -
Response to timeout /?

Code:

TIMEOUT [/T] timeout [/NOBREAK]
Description:
    This utility accepts a timeout parameter to wait for the specified
    time period (in seconds) or until any key is pressed. It also
    accepts a parameter to ignore the key press.
Parameter List:
    /T        timeout       Specifies the number of seconds to wait.
                            Valid range is -1 to 99999 seconds.
    /NOBREAK                Ignore key presses and wait specified time.
    /?                      Displays this help message.
NOTE: A timeout value of -1 means to wait indefinitely for a key press.
Examples:
    TIMEOUT /?
    TIMEOUT /T 10
    TIMEOUT /T 300 /NOBREAK
    TIMEOUT /T -1

see also TimeOut - SS64

Denis

Bish,

You might also consider, as an experiment, triggering the task on a time instead & set it to repeat every hour / 2 hours / whatever but keeping your existing Idle condition in the task definition so that it remains set to do what you originally wanted.

There is no logical reason to think this will succeed.

Addn -
After posting this I found a thread in which such a proposed solution was put forward but its original poster then retracted the proposed solution for reasons I could not understand since the proposed solution had, or so it seemed, passed testing.
on idle problems and a retracted explanation - EightForums

Denis