Hi there!
Recently I experimented a little with CrystalControl and the Task Scheduler...
My goal in this effort was to get CrystalControl (and therefore my 2 634USB-Displays) to run while there is no user logged on. This is a server system, usually there's nobody logged on (interactively), but the System is always online and it would be nice to have the displays show the stats!
What I found out is this:
I logged on as Administrator, started CrystalControl and configured it to my liking.
Then I created a tast that starts CrystalControl using the Administrator's User account and set it up to run at startup.
To test functionality I started the task manually (while logged on as Administrator)
Everything checked out, the displays showed the requested info and the task completed successfully.
However, if this very same task is executed while there's no user logged on the computer beeps once and that's it. The Task Manager still shows CrystalControl as running, but the displays don't work!
I believe CrystalControl produces some kind of runtime error (for example because there's no Systray to put the icon into), pops up a dialog box, beeps and then waits for input, but since scheduled tasks usually don't interact with the logon desktop I cannot say for sure...
Is there any way to get it to work even without an interactive user logged on to the console, so I can have it running in the background without having to log on?
If that's not possible, how about starting it at logon (not at system startup), but having it REMAIN ACTIVE even after logoff? Can that be done?
I'm pretty familiar with scheduling tasks (also through the command line tools), creating and modifying windows Services and using the Management Console, but it would be cool if someone could point out where to look for the appropriate switches...
@Admin:
What exactly is it that prevents CrystalControl from running when there's no user logged on? Does it require a taskbar present? so would it help if one would create a virtual interactive desktop for the program to run in?
I know this is possible in WinXP Pro, but it's not exactly a 5-minute-task (if you've never done it before) from what I've heard, so I'm wondering if it's worth spending a day trying...
Recently I experimented a little with CrystalControl and the Task Scheduler...
My goal in this effort was to get CrystalControl (and therefore my 2 634USB-Displays) to run while there is no user logged on. This is a server system, usually there's nobody logged on (interactively), but the System is always online and it would be nice to have the displays show the stats!
What I found out is this:
I logged on as Administrator, started CrystalControl and configured it to my liking.
Then I created a tast that starts CrystalControl using the Administrator's User account and set it up to run at startup.
To test functionality I started the task manually (while logged on as Administrator)
Everything checked out, the displays showed the requested info and the task completed successfully.
However, if this very same task is executed while there's no user logged on the computer beeps once and that's it. The Task Manager still shows CrystalControl as running, but the displays don't work!
I believe CrystalControl produces some kind of runtime error (for example because there's no Systray to put the icon into), pops up a dialog box, beeps and then waits for input, but since scheduled tasks usually don't interact with the logon desktop I cannot say for sure...
Is there any way to get it to work even without an interactive user logged on to the console, so I can have it running in the background without having to log on?
If that's not possible, how about starting it at logon (not at system startup), but having it REMAIN ACTIVE even after logoff? Can that be done?
I'm pretty familiar with scheduling tasks (also through the command line tools), creating and modifying windows Services and using the Management Console, but it would be cool if someone could point out where to look for the appropriate switches...
@Admin:
What exactly is it that prevents CrystalControl from running when there's no user logged on? Does it require a taskbar present? so would it help if one would create a virtual interactive desktop for the program to run in?
I know this is possible in WinXP Pro, but it's not exactly a 5-minute-task (if you've never done it before) from what I've heard, so I'm wondering if it's worth spending a day trying...
Looking for additional LCD resources? Check out our LCD blog for the latest developments in LCD technology.
Last edited: