Applications Started with AT Are Not Interactive

• Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 3.5
• Microsoft Windows NT Server version 3.5

SYMPTOMS

The Windows NT 3.5 AT command does not load applications interactively even though the System Account Allow Service to Interact with Desktop check box is selected for the Scheduler service. The AT command does load the application in the background, but you are not able to see or interact with the application in any way.

WORKAROUND

To load applications interactively with the AT command, use the /INTERACTIVE parameter. For example, to run Notepad at 12:30pm, type the following at the command line in Command Prompt:

   at 12:30:00 /interactive notepad.exe

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT Workstation and Windows NT Server version 3.5. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

Steps to Reproduce Problem

1. From the Services portion of Control Panel, choose Schedule. The Service dialog box appears for the Windows NT Scheduler service.

2. Select Allow Service to Interact with Desktop and choose OK.

3. Choose Start (make sure the status says Started).

4. Exit Control Panel.

5. Start Command Prompt and type the following (you may want to change the time):

         at 12:30:00 notepad.exe
   

6. Once the time you entered has passed, type AT at the command prompt to see if the AT buffer is empty and the task was completed. Notepad is not visible on the desktop.

7. Load Process Viewer (from the Windows NT Resource Kit). You should see Notepad running in the process window. However, you will not be able to close out the background application using Process Viewer. You must shutdown Windows NT and restart to clear the application from memory.