VBScript is scheduled for deprecation! So?

LesFerch · Feb 14, 2026

Try3 said:
Prog is, I assume,
c:\windows\system32\cscript.exe
Argument might be something like
"D:\Desktop\JScript-Intermediary-TestedOK\Test-JScript.js" "D:\Desktop\JScript-Intermediary-TestedOK\TakeAScreenshot.bat - 5.lnk"

Just put the the script path in the "Program/script" field and the path to the lnk file in the "Add arguments" field.

Windows will automatically run it via WScript.exe.

Try3 · Feb 14, 2026

LesFerch said:
Just put the the script path in the "Program/script" field and the path to the lnk file in the "Add arguments" field.

Les,

I had also tried that.
Prog
"D:\Desktop\JScript-Intermediary-TestedOK\Test-JScript.js"
Argument
"D:\Desktop\JScript-Intermediary-TestedOK\TakeAScreenshot.bat - 5.lnk"

I get a js error

I suspect it's because there is a space in the Argument.

Denis

LesFerch · Feb 14, 2026

@Try3 The error indicates that no argument got passed to the script, so TS didn't pass anything. Eliminate spaces and it should all work fine. The script works with spaces, but TS is another matter.

pseymour · Feb 14, 2026

LesFerch said:
If you're not distributing your code, you don't have to change anything. VBScript will remain available to install via Optional Features in the same way you can install other old stuff such as SMB 1

Initially, yes, but it will eventually be removed (Phase 3)

VBScript deprecation in Windows 11: Timelines and next steps

Windows IT Pro Blog: Scripting options for web development and task automation are modernizing. To provide you with the most modern and efficient options, we are replacing VBScript with more advanced alternatives such as JavaScript and PowerShell. Find out what VBScript deprecation means for you...

www.elevenforum.com

Try3 · Feb 14, 2026

LesFerch said:
@Try3 The error indicates that no argument got passed to the script, so TS didn't pass anything. Eliminate spaces and it should all work fine. The script works with spaces, but TS is another matter.

Yes, it passed my pre-TS testing.
Thanks for your efforts.
Many of my scripts make use of one or more passed arguments so the use of spaces is unavoidable.
- My existing vbs solution can cope with that.
- The conhost solution can also cope with that so I'll proceed with that approach.
- I just picked my test script because it was the first one that came to hand. I'm lucky I picked it so that I learnt about the issue straightaway.

When I do anything new in VBS I end up opening a new box of quotation marks and sprinkling them all over the place as I test for arguments with spaces & with ampersands. I thought it might be the same with JScript but a brief online search suggested that it was much more complicated than that.

All the best,
Denis

LesFerch · Feb 14, 2026

Try3 said:
Yes, it passed my pre-TS testing.
Thanks for your efforts.
Many of my scripts make use of one or more passed arguments so the use of spaces is unavoidable.
- My existing vbs solution can cope with that.
- The conhost solution can also cope with that so I'll proceed with that approach.
- I just picked my test script because it was the first one that came to hand. I'm lucky I picked it so that I learnt about the issue straightaway.

When I do anything new in VBS I end up opening a new box of quotation marks and sprinkling them all over the place as I test for arguments with spaces & with ampersands. I thought it might be the same with JScript but a brief online search suggested that it was much more complicated than that.

All the best,
Denis

Anything you can do in VBScript, you can do in JScript. It's not more complicated. It's just different syntax. If you post a sample, I'll convert it for you. Your workflow can remain 100% the same.

Try3 · Feb 14, 2026

LesFerch said:
If you post a sample, I'll convert it for you

Try3 said:
CreateObject("WScript.Shell").Run chr(34) & "C:\Tools\Backup\CoreFiles\CoreFilesBackup.lnk" & Chr(34), 7

Well, given the space issue, I'll pretend that it's
CreateObject("WScript.Shell").Run chr(34) & "C:\Tools\Backup\CoreFiles\CoreFilesBackup 5.lnk" & Chr(34), 7

Denis

gunrunnerjohn · Feb 14, 2026

With all the issues like this that come up, maybe they should schedule Windows for deprecation! :lmao:

LesFerch · Feb 14, 2026

Try3 said:
Well, given the space issue, I'll pretend that it's
CreateObject("WScript.Shell").Run chr(34) & "C:\Tools\Backup\CoreFiles\CoreFilesBackup 5.lnk" & Chr(34), 7

I'm on mobile right now, so I can't verify, but this looks correct:

Code:

var WshShell = new ActiveXObject("WScript.Shell");
WshShell.Run('"C:\\Tools\\Backup\\CoreFiles\\CoreFilesBackup 5.lnk"', 7);

muleywagon · Feb 14, 2026

You've got to do better than this guys...
If you would have called them 'client script' and 'server script' instead of VBscript and JavaScript, in the first place, we wouldn't have had this convo. I would say this, so you don't 'space out'. "If you remove the program(s), you will need to upgrade all the equipment at the server, and change the systems at all the terminals, and be really really nice to all the patrons, handing free stuff out, and making sure their systems work better than the servers systems who will probably build custom machines that are impossible to operate anyway!"

muleywagon · Feb 14, 2026

The length of the command line becomes an issue. You... have been assigned a handler. Tell me persay, what do I do, if my handler is not doing what I need them to do?

Try3 · Feb 14, 2026

muleywagon said:
You've got to do better than this guys...

Who do you think you're talking to? MS? We're all just users helping each other out.

Denis

muleywagon · Feb 14, 2026

Sorry... Ghost Town U.S.A. was my fault. I bit blitted it. Poor advanced server technologies!! #$%& Always looking ahead... into the future we go... unhinged and packing a very primitive weapon...

LesFerch · Feb 14, 2026

muleywagon said:
You've got to do better than this guys...
If you would have called them 'client script' and 'server script' instead of VBscript and JavaScript, in the first place, we wouldn't have had this convo.

It's not JavaScript. It's JScript. It's equivalent to VBScript. Both are Microsoft scripting languages that can be run via Windows Script Host or via MSHTML. We're not dealing with server side stuff, such ASP, in this discussion. Were just talking about desktop scripting and Task Scheduler.

Try3 · Feb 14, 2026

LesFerch said:
I'm on mobile right now, so I can't verify, but this looks correct:

Code:

var WshShell = new ActiveXObject("WScript.Shell"); WshShell.Run('"C:\\Tools\\Backup\\CoreFiles\\CoreFilesBackup 5.lnk"', 7);

Les,

Yes, the JScript runs manually.
But every time, when run from TS, I get this challenge after which execution just seems to stop dead as if the selection process has lost the file it's trying to run.

I think I'll just go with garlin's conhost solution for the TS intermediary tasks.
It's always been my loose intention to replace other uses with PS scripts.
I also have some VBS calls from VBA. I'll have to look into replacing those with PS calls instead.

All the best,
Denis

LesFerch · Feb 14, 2026

Try3 said:
Les,

Yes, the JScript runs manually.
But every time, when run from TS, I get this challenge after which execution just seems to stop dead as if the selection process has lost the file it's trying to run.
View attachment 163302

I think I'll just go with garlin's conhost solution for the TS intermediary tasks.
It's always been my loose intention to replace other uses with PS scripts.
I also have some VBS calls from VBA. I'll have to look into replacing those with PS calls instead.

All the best,
Denis

I'm guessing your task runs as a different user, maybe SYSTEM? Should just be a matter of making that association as that user. Will help more when I'm back at a PC

Try3 · Feb 14, 2026

LesFerch said:
I'm guessing your task runs as a different user, maybe SYSTEM? Should just be a matter of making that association as that user. Will help more when I'm back at a PC

No, it's the same user.
I think TS needs something about cscript js files to be set up before it can be used even though cscript js files run without any action having to be taken.

Denis

LesFerch · Feb 14, 2026

Try3 said:
No, it's the same user.
I think TS needs something about cscript js files to be set up before it can be used even though cscript js files run without any action having to be taken.

Hmm, the association should only have to be done once per user. Maybe once using wscript.exe and again using cscript.exe.

Edit: @Try3 I couldn't replicate the issue. My test.js script ran fine from Task Scheduler using cscript.exe or wscript.exe.

Try3 · Feb 15, 2026

LesFerch said:
Hmm, the association should only have to be done once per user. Maybe once using wscript.exe and again using cscript.exe.

Edit: @Try3 I couldn't replicate the issue. My test.js script ran fine from Task Scheduler using cscript.exe or wscript.exe.

TS has always had its quirks.
The .js file runs fine on its own so its file association does not seem to have any problems and .js is listed correctly in my %PathExt% variable.

It's only when running the .js from TS that any problem appears - and it's every time, the interruption does not offer any 'always use this app' option.
I'll just have to live with it.

All the best,
Denis

garlin · Feb 15, 2026

File Type Associations are a per-user setting. Are you running the task as SYSTEM or Administrator (different user profile & FTA’s).

VBScript is scheduled for deprecation! So?

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