How can Task Scheduler run multiple instances of the exe?

Question

How can Task Scheduler run multiple instances of the exe? Let's say I have a daily schedule to open notepad.exe I hope each day will open a new one, instead it will only open the first one.

If I first schdule run a .bat to run the exe, a console window will appear briefly, then I need some way to not show any console window.

Please help

Solution

What OS are you trying this on? I tested this on Windows Server 2008 R2 using your notepad.exe example (no .cmd, just launching notepad.exe). If I set the option in the task Settings "If the task is already running, then the following rule applies:" >> Run a new instance in parallel.

If I select this option then a new notepad.exe launches each time the scheduled task runs, otherwise only the first one launches it.

/edit:

For Windows XP, you could launch the executable from another process that will exit. As Ryan mentioned, you could use a .cmd batch file and the START command. If you don't want the user that's logged in to see it run, you could set the task to run as NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM