Scheduled tasks may not start if you used a System Preparation image to install Windows XP or Windows 2000 (313111)

SYMPTOMS

When you install a Microsoft Windows 2000-based disk image or a Microsoft Windows XP-based disk image that was created with the Microsoft System Preparation tool (Sysprep.exe), some scheduled tasks may not start as expected.

When you view the properties of a failed task, you may receive an error message similar to the following:

0x8004130f: No account information could be found in the Task Scheduler security database for the task indicated.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs if the scheduled tasks are scheduled to run under a system account. Tasks scheduled to run under a user account start as expected.

WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, enter the account credentials for the task again. To do this, follow these steps:

Click Start, click Run, and then type drive:\folder\Tasks, where drive is the hard disk where Windows 2000 or Windows XP is installed and folder is the folder where Windows 2000 or Windows XP is installed.
Click OK.
Double-click the failed task.
In the Run as box, type the name of the system account that has the credentials to run the task.
Click Set Password, type the password for the system account, confirm the password, and then click OK.
Click OK to close the task.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

MORE INFORMATION

The Task Scheduler encrypts credentials by using an encryption key that is generated from a hash of various pieces of data that are specific to the computer. After you use the Sysprep.exe tool to create an image, the original encryption key cannot be regenerated because of the changes that the Sysprep.exe tool has made. Therefore, all prior credentials are lost.