J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

I am the only user of this computer. I do not have passwords (yes, I am
aware of the security risks this involves; my decision).

This morning, I attempted to use task scheduler for the first time on
XP. I got a "you don't have permissions" message; on Googling the error
code (XP's "internal" help was hopeless, even though I have it set to be
allowed to go online), I discover that you can't use Task Scheduler if
you have blank passwords.

Has anyone the solution to this, other than setting a password? I am
aware of - and have downloaded and installed, and it works well (with no
passwords) - System Scheduler from http://www.splinterware.com, but I
find it inconceivable that TS is limited in this way.

(Some of the Microsoft pages mentioned a way of getting round the
limitation, but they seemed to be related to something with a different
name to Task Scheduler.)

Task Scheduler runs an event under the specified Windows account. To do
that, it needs the password for that account. That password cannot be
blank. So if you don't want to login then don't. Use auto-login to
automatically load your Windows account when you boot Windows. You will
still have a username and password for that account but YOU won't have
to bother entering them, and you satisfy the need for Task Scheduler
(and other apps) that demand that the account under which they run a
program will do so with the proper login credentials.

To facilitate auto logging into Windows when you boot it, get
Microsoft's TweakUI powertoy. Or Google on how to do it. Just remember
that ANYONE that walks over to your computer can pretend to be you and
do whatever they want, including "friends" (and friends of friends of
friends that you don't even know but still get invited to your parties)
and the thief that steals your computer.