Microsoft KB Archive/834853

= &quot;The task object version is either unsupported or invalid&quot; error message when you use Schtasks =

Article ID: 834853

Article Last Modified on 10/26/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows XP Professional
 * Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

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SYMPTOMS
When you type schtasks at a command prompt to try to view scheduled tasks on your computer, you may receive the following error message:

ERROR: The task object version is either unsupported or invalid.

Note You do not receive this error message when you type at at a command prompt to view scheduled tasks.



CAUSE
This problem may occur when the Tasks folder contains a corrupted task. The default location of this folder is C:\Windows\Tasks.



Service pack information
To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Windows XP. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322389 How to obtain the latest Windows XP service pack

Hotfix information
A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that is described in this article. Only apply it to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix may receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next Windows XP service pack that contains this hotfix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Professional
  Date         Time   Version        Size     File name 27-Jan-2004 16:51  5.1.2600.1336  114,176  Sctasks.exe

Windows XP 64-Bit Edition
  Date         Time   Version        Size     File name   Platform 27-Jan-2004 16:49  5.1.2600.1336  298,496  Sctasks.exe    IA-64 27-Jan-2004 16:51  5.1.2600.1336  114,176  Wsctasks.exe     x86



WORKAROUND
To work around this problem, remove the corrupted task from the Tasks folder. To remove the corrupted task, follow these steps:
 * 1) Create a temporary folder on your desktop.
 * 2) Move one task from the Tasks folder to the temporary folder.
 * 3) Use the Schtasks command to see if the issue is resolved.
 * 4) Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you do not receive the error message that is described in the &quot;Symptoms&quot; section of this article.
 * 5) When you have identified the corrupted task, move the other tasks from the temporary folder to the Tasks folder.

Note When you no longer receive the error message in step 4, the corrupted task is the task that you most recently moved to the temporary folder.



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the &quot;Applies to&quot; section. This problem was first corrected in Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2.



MORE INFORMATION
For additional information about the terminology that is used in this article, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

824684 Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates

Keywords: kbhotfixserver kbqfe kbwinxpsp2fix kbqfe kbwinxppresp2fix kbfix kbbug KB834853

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