How to run ForFiles in Task Scheduler

rdwray · Oct 25, 2023

This will run in Task Scheduler and deletes the file, the problem is that it never stops running so none of the other tasks will run.

Code:

cmd.exe /c ForFiles /P "C:\Users\user\Desktop" /s /m "mpam-fe.exe" /c "cmd /c del @FILE"

garlin · Oct 25, 2023

mpam-fe.exe might be a protected file, and you need to confirm deletion.

Code:

cmd.exe /c ForFiles /P "C:\Users\dellr\Desktop" /s /m "mpam-fe.exe" /c "cmd /c del /f @FILE"

rdwray · Oct 25, 2023

mpam-fe.exe might be a protected file, and you need to confirm deletion.

Code:

cmd.exe /c ForFiles /P "C:\Users\user\Desktop" /s /m "mpam-fe.exe" /c "cmd /c del /f @FILE"

Still keeps running and I moved the /f to several locations. I also tried the following and get the same result:

cmd.exe /c del /f "C:\Users\user\Desktop\mpam-fe.exe"

garlin · Oct 25, 2023

I confirmed that, it looks like Task Scheduler thinks the command never exited. May need to debug this, since running the exact line in CMD completes as expected.

garlin · Oct 25, 2023

What I think you're seeing, is if you don't right-menu Refresh in the Task Scheduler -- it won't update the view to reflect the task has completed.

rdwray · Oct 25, 2023

This is not a real solution, but a workaround. I restart the PC every night so I just placed the command before the restart. Funny part is that you can have many tasks running at the same time without any problem.

garlin · Oct 25, 2023

What is copying mpam-fe.exe to your Desktop? Maybe it's got an open file lock, and preventing your script from exiting. A reboot would kill the process holding the lock.

rdwray · Oct 25, 2023

garlin said:
What is copying mpam-fe.exe to your Desktop? Maybe it's got an open file lock, and preventing your script from exiting. A reboot would kill the process holding the lock.

mpam-fe. is Defender security update and I use Task Scheduler to download (using Firefox) and install the update; didn't notice it before, but the install process continues to run also so the nightly restart is shutting down that process also.

garlin · Oct 25, 2023

That probably explains it. I would just use PowerShell instead, and not depend on a browser.
Replace your task command with "powershell" / "[...]"

Code:

powershell "$File='C:\Users\GARLIN\Desktop\mpam-fe.exe'; $ProgressPreference='silentlyContinue'; wget 'https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=121721&arch=x64' -OutFile $File; Start-Process $File -Wait"

rdwray · Oct 25, 2023

garlin said:
That probably explains it. I would just use PowerShell instead, and not depend on a browser.
Replace your task command with "powershell" / "[...]"

Code:

powershell "$File='C:\Users\GARLIN\Desktop\mpam-fe.exe'; $ProgressPreference='silentlyContinue'; wget 'https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=121721&arch=x64' -OutFile $File; Start-Process $File -Wait"

Thanks for the info, I do have a couple of tasks that I use powershell for some of them.