What is the default working directory for a scheduled task in Windows 2008 R2?

Question

Trying to figure out where the output of a long running scheduled task is being saved. Presumably, it's in the working directory of the task. Unfortunately, the "Start in" option was not set.

The scheduled task is using the "System" account.

Any ideas?

That question is about the configuration files. I am looking for the output of a command that's a scheduled tasks which would be saved in the working directory. Modified the question to be clearer. — Belmin Fernandez, Jul 02 '14 at 19:00
Probably `%Windows%\system32` ... create a test file to verify? — HopelessN00b, Jul 02 '14 at 19:05
It's a powershell command that outputs into the current working directory. I would create a script and test it myself but don't have access to a non production server right now. — Belmin Fernandez, Jul 02 '14 at 19:39

Ryan Ries · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-02T20:13:58.480

The default working directory for a scheduled task running as the Local System account is

%Windir%\System32\

Source: I just tested it by making a scheduled task, running as SYSTEM, that executed a batch file. The batch file contained the line ipconfig > test123.txt. When the scheduled task is run, the test123.txt file appears in the Windows\System32 directory.

Secondly, I created another task, also running as SYSTEM, but this time the executable was set to C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowershell\v1.0\powershell.exe and the argument supplied was C:\Users\Ryan\Desktop\test.ps1. So basically, the scheduled task was configured to run the test.ps1 Powershell script. In the Powershell script, was the line ipconfig | Out-File .\test123.txt.

The test123.txt file once again appeared in my system32 directory when the scheduled task was run.

Yep...to expand, I believe it defaults to the running user's `%USERPROFILE%`. As SYSTEM, that's the system32 folder. — Nathan C, Jul 02 '14 at 19:58

Алдар · Answer 2 · 2020-07-06T06:27:58.733

0

The default working directory for a scheduled task in windows 10, running as the Current User account is %userprofile%\appdata\local\VirtualStore\Windows\SysWOW64.

edited Jul 06 '20 at 06:27

answered Jun 25 '20 at 03:50

Алдар

131
5

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 25 '22 at 23:08

You can find the directory by creating a scheduled task with something like this:

Program/script: powershell.exe
Arguments: -Command "& {pwd *> C:\Users\[username]\Desktop\test.txt}"

This will start a powershell session and print the working directory to a file on your desktop.

What is the default working directory for a scheduled task in Windows 2008 R2?

3 Answers3