Windows Task Scheduler died, Recs for replacement

The Problem
The Windows 7 Task scheduler suddently can't read any of the scheduler data and therefore can't load a single scheduled task for viewing or editing. Upon starting Scheduler, error messages read "Reading data failed" and "File does not exist". On my system the task job files are stored in C:\Windows\System32\Tasks, where I find 103 files in 6 folders:

Most of the files in this directory tree are XML files with no extensions
Many are byte for byte duplicates of the XML files, but have the extension .BAK
Some are XML files with extension .JOB
Some are binary with no extension
Some are binary with extension .JOB

I restored the "Tasks" directory (and all of its subdirs and files) from an early September backup (when Task Scheduler was working normally) but now NO tasks shows up in Task Scheduler. Nevertheless, almost 100 tasks appear in the "Scheduled Tasks" tab of Microsoft AutoRuns app (and other apps that display system tasks). I'm guessing that AutoRuns is reading a registry inventory of the tasks.

System Specs
I am running Windows 7 Premium Home Edition (sp1) 64-bit on a Hewlett-Packard p6774y Desktop PC
932 GB Hitachi HDS721010CLA332 SATA HDD (877 GB free)
2.90 GHz ADM Phenom II X4 840T Processor
6.0 GB installed RAM
802.11n Wireless LAN card
ATI Radeon HD 4200 display adapter
Hewlett-Packard DVD/CD-Rom device
USB 3 mass storage device (Seagate 3TB external HDD)
USB 3 mass storage device (ioSafe 3TB external HDD)
Generic- Compact Flash USB Device
Generic- MS/MS-Pro USB Device
Generic- SD/MMC USB Device
Generic- SM/xD-Picture USB Device
HP LaserJet Professional M1217nfw MFP Printer
All hardware drivers up to date according to IObits Driver Booster
All Microsoft updates effectuated (except MSIE 11)
System scanned with Norton360 (real time), plus the following stand-alone scanners: Sophos , Panda Cloud Cleaner, Hitman Pro, Malwarebytes Anti-malware & SUPERAntiSpyware. Also scanned with FSecure boot-time AV scanner and a couple of rootkit scanner --> no malware found

What I've done (other than stated above):
Chkdsk.exe --> No disk errors
SFC.exe --> No missing or corrupted system files
Defrag.exe < 5% defragmentation (all drives)
Safe Mode --> No change in outcome
Searched Microsoft Knowledgebase --> Nothing
Searched MG --> Nothing pertaining to Win7

Requests
Any thoughts on how to tackle this problem or anyone have a suggestion for a proprietary task scheduler (doesn't have to be freeware).

 

You could try running Fix My Task Scheduler v1.0, it doesn't require installation, just unzip and run/reboot. Make sure to backup before running it.

 

Thanks nullptr, I gave it a shot and it said it was able to fix 6 entries but in fact it didn't fix anything. BTW, try not to link to internet files outside of MajorGeeks (like the one you linked to above). The management apparently wants to keep the forum as "clean" as possible. You can link to any file that exists on MajorGeeks website. When you want to call someones attention to a file outside of the majorgeeks.com domain, just supply the link to the homepage where the file can be downloaded from and let the reader decide whether they want to download the file once they get there. Just telling you because I got shot down for linking out (by MA no less) just yesterday. Anyways, thanks again for the suggestion.

 

rustysavage...

I use freeware System Scheduler to schedule events in XP for some events. The free version of SS does not have a wake from standby feature for events like the XP scheduler, so I use WakeOnStandBy to create multiple wake events. Otherwise I use it to run scripts on a timer while the PC is on...

WakeOnStandBy enables me to run two programs per wake event, itself, although not technically a scheduler...

http://www.splinterware.com/

 

No, but the net effect is the same as a scheduler so I'll give it a go. Already have System Scheduler installed but was disappointed that it couldn't wake a system on standby. I just checked out their homepage again and see that the PRO version does have the capacity for waking a sleeping system. So, I'll just buy the PRO version is the method you've described doesn't work out for me. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

You're welcome.

It's a nice program...runs scripts for me like a charm. Hope it works out well for you...