Microsoft KB Archive/177651

= Windows NT 4.0's AT Command Handles Quotation Marks Differently Than Windows NT 3.51 =

Article ID: 177651

Article Last Modified on 11/1/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition
 * Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition

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This article was previously published under Q177651



IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information on how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" online Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" online Help topic in Regedt32.exe.



SYMPTOMS
You used batch files in Windows NT 3.51 to schedule jobs with the AT command. With Windows NT 4.0, jobs surrounded with quotation marks are not run.



CAUSE
The parsing algorithm of the AT command was changed in Windows NT 4.0 to better handle Long File Names (LFN). Here are examples of the syntax for the AT command for each operating system.

AT 10:15 "notepad c:\config.sys" (Windows NT 3.51) AT 10:15 notepad "c:\config.sys" (Windows NT 4.0)



RESOLUTION
The AT command in Windows NT 4.0 can be forced to use the same parsing algorithm as Windows NT 3.51 by adding a parameter to the registry.

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall Windows. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys And Values" online Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" online Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it.


 * 1) Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe) and select the following key:


 * 1) On the Edit menu, click Add Key to create the following entry:


 * 1) Open the Parameters key that you created in step 2.
 * 2) On the Edit menu, click Add Value to create the following entry:

NOTE: This parameter is deleted by the Scheduler service on startup. To avoid the parameter being deleted, apply the fix mentioned below.

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows NT 4.0 or Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

152734 How to Obtain the Latest Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in Windows NT 4.0 and Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. This problem was first corrected in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4.0 and Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition Service Pack 4.

Additional query words: atsvc schedular schedule

Keywords: kbhotfixserver kbqfe kbbug kbfix KB177651

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