Error messege: the selected task "{0}" no longer exists. to see the current task, click refresh

Anonymous
2009-07-07T16:17:02+00:00

When I go to start the task scheduler, I get this messege "the selected task "{0}" no longer exists. to see the current task, click refresh" So I go ahead and click refresh, and get the same error messege. How can I resolve this issue? Any help and all help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Windows update

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments No comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2009-09-21T19:15:00+00:00

I spent a few minutes and tracked down the problem and a solution. The issue is a result of task files which exist in the Tasks folders which have no entry in (presumably) in the registry. Here's how I worked through the issue - will take some time, but it has cleared up the issue completely for me:

  1. Open Task Scheduler and click OK when prompted with the error. It may seem like you are receiving the same error over and over, but this is really due to the number of tasks which are broken. Make a note of the number of times you are prompted with the the selected task "{0}" error. This is the number of task files that are out of sync with the registry.
  2. Start with the first folder under Windows tasks (Task Scheduler(Local)\Task Scheduler Library\Microsoft\Windows) and select each folder in turn until you receive the the selected task "{0}" error. This folder contains files that are not in sync with the task scheduler.
  3. Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the tasks file folder (%SystemFolder%\Tasks\Microsoft\Windows) and find the folder which corresponds to the folder in which you received the error.
  4. For some tasks you will be able to determine which files need to be deleted by comparing the list in the Task Scheduler with the list of files in Explorer. Some tasks will only have a single file in explorer, or, in one case I had 2 and the first was missing. Once Task Scheduler encounters this error it will no longer display tasks so it makes the job of getting the two in sync a little more difficult. Once you have determined which files exist in the File Folder but do not exist in the Task Scheduler folder, delete those files.
  5. IMPORTANT - Close and Re-open Task Scheduler. Once the error is encountered, Task Scheduler no longer displays the tasks so you need to close it and restart in order to continue your synchronization effort.
  6. Continue to select folders in Task Scheduler under Windows tasks until you encounter the error again and repeat the process of determining which file exists on the file system, but not in Task Scheduler.

I had 6 files that were out of sync with what was displayed in Task Scheduler. Once I deleted all of the offending files, Task Scheduler fired up without issue.

Good luck.

Was this answer helpful?

100+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments No comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2009-08-28T12:19:13+00:00

Hi,

I had the same issue and here is what I did to solve my problem and hope it helps someone else in the future.  If you disabled the Disk Defrag Schedule, then go back and enable it.  It solved my problem and i've reported this bug to the Windows 7 team.

Was this answer helpful?

90+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments No comments

131 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
  1. Anonymous
    2010-09-15T11:53:33+00:00

    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 (OEM, All updates, HP-Laptop)

    When the Task Scheduler is started, I got the dredded,

        "The selected Task "{0}" no longer exists. To see the current task, click Refresh".

    I searched through the MS forums and tried several solutions (e.g. deleting tasks in C: \windows\System32\Tasks). Some

    solutions worked temporarily. During this time I noticed that the Event Viewer could not access the Security log, I

    received,

       "4201 The instance name passed was not recognized as valid by a WMI data provider".

    Searching for a fix for the Security log I found this link,

    http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/windowscompatibility/thread/c75ae899-d05b-411d-a7f2-00fdd33b8589/

    (See Gary Bouchard and running SUBINACL).

    When the fix was executed, both the Task Scheduler and the Security log functioned normally. The problem was an ACL

    (Access Control List) corruption.

     I restored the tasks that  were deleted from C: \Windows\System32\Tasks (see other solutions above) and the Task

    Scheduler recognized them. Somehow Windows changed its access to the Tasks and the Security log, it then could not

    access them and lied about what was happening. The original cause(s) of the ACL corruption is still out there and could

    strike again.

    I may have iniated the problem by performing Defrags in Command Prompt (eg DEFRAG C: or DEFRAG C: /B) or MS could have

    caused it through a downloaded update.

               NOTE: This worked for me. Its drastic. Try at your own risk.

                          ....  MICROSOFT A FIX IS NEEDED PLEASE COMMENT  ....

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  2. Anonymous
    2010-09-05T08:01:28+00:00

    The Defrag schedule was removed (don't know how or when). By setting up a schedule, the error went away.

    In fact , when I went to set up the schedule, the Defrag app had a schedule already set up. I basically just checked the settings and confirmed it with OK and the error went away.

    If I had not seen this posting I would not have had a clue about fixing it.

    Thanks

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  3. Anonymous
    2010-08-28T00:25:08+00:00

    Another solution, at least for me.

    Found a fix.

    Go into your registry and delete the following key

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Schedule\TaskCache

    Please make sure you backup the key before deleting.  If you're not sure how to do this I don't recommend doing it.

    Reboot.  Profit

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments