Windows: Running an AutoIt script to launch a GUI app - on a server, when no one is logged in

Question

I want to run an AutoIt script every day at 1:00 AM on a Windows 2003 Server Standard Edition. Since this is a server, obviously there is rarely someone sitting there logged in at the console, so the procedure needs to account for this.

The AutoIt script in question launches and sends keypresses to a GUI app, so the process needs to include creating some sort of session for the user running the schedule task.

Is there a way to do this?

• I can't just use scheduled tasks run the AutoIt script when no one is logged in - if I do, it fails to launch at all.
• I thought that I might be able to create an RDP session and run the scheduled task as that user, inside that session, but I haven't found a way to create an RDP session without launching mstsc.exe -- which is itself a GUI app, and I have the same problem again.

Solution

I am not sure if srvany from Microsoft allows to run GUI apps as a service, but AlwaysUp does. You could then use Windows Scheduled Tasks or anything else to make sure your script runs at the desired time.

Comments

[Oskar Duveborn]

Wow, I'd contact the developer/company responsible for the app and demand a command-line compatible version asap ^^