I had a really nasty bout with spyware recently and after I was rid of the problem, I noticed my scheduled tasks weren't running.

I kept getting the usual error, that Task Scheduler wasn't running and I poked around the forums and it said that I had to be logged on as an Admin (which I am) and that the Event Log had to be running (which it is).

What is weird is that when I go to Control Panel>Admin Tools>Services, Task Scheduler isn't in the list. It goes from System Restore to TCP/IP.

If anyone can help, I would really appreciate it.

A restore point might be a good idea but before you do that, open the control panel. Go to add and remove programs and add or remove windows components. See if it's listed in there.

Listed in Windows Components are:

Already Checked
- Accessories and Utilities
- Internet Explorer
- MSN Explorer
- Networking Services
- Outlook Express
- Update Root Certificates
- Windows Media Player
- Windows Messenger

Unchecked Items:
- Fax Services
- Indexing Service
- Management and Monitoring Tools
- Other Network and Print Services

Would installing Management and Monitoring Tools be it?

No because I don't have that one checked either and my task scheduler is there.

Is the scheduled task icon in the control panel?

As a temporary work around, there are some task schedulers that you can download.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...

Scheduled Tasks is in the Control Panel and when I try to click on a task, I get the error that Task Scheduler isn't running. If I try to add a task through "Add a Scheduled Task", after I set everything up and click ok, it again gives me the error that it isn't running.

http://www.vbforums.com/archive/ind...

Read the post by Greyskull. It's about 3/4 of the way down the page.

Thanks for the link, however, as you might expect, Scheduler is not in my registry. I've seen where people have suggested I add the scheduler key in from another Windows XP system. Is that really advisable?

I guess you can add it from another system if you export it as a reg file from the other system and then import it to yours.

That's ok to do but if you are nervous about it, then download one of those free task schedulers I mentioned before.