Howto: Run uTorrent at computer startup with Vista's task scheduler

[lamsao]

This guide is to show you how to setup your Windows Vista PC to run uTorrent at computer startup using Task Scheduler.

Note: The following instructions are for Windows Vista. I have tested only on Windows Vista 64-bit Ultimate. But I think this guide can be applied to Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, and Business and/or 32-bit version as well.

1. Install uTorrent and verify it works as normally.

2. Open Task Scheduler from Start-> All Programs-> Accessories-> System Tools-> Task Scheduler.

3. Right-click on the Task Scheduler Library on the left pane and select Create Task ...

4. On General tab,

a. Check "Run whether user is logged on or not'

b. Check "Run with highest privileges". [i am not sure if this is needed]

5. On Triggers tab, click "New..." and select "At Startup" in the "Begin the task:". By default the "Enabled" box is checked in the Advance Settings. If not, check it.

6. On the Actions tab,

a. click "New.." button and select "Start a program" option on Action:

b. Click Browse in Settings and browse to the location of your uTorrent program file.

7. On Conditions tab, uncheck everything.

8. On Settings tab, check only the first two items "Allow task to be run on demand" and "Run task as soon as possible after a scheduled start is missed". [i am not user if these two need to be checked]..

9. Click OK to save.

To verify it works:

10. Now reboot your computer. Log on to your account and run "taskmgr.exe" from Window-key + R. [ I missed the Start->Run option in XP]. Click Processes tab. You will not see uTorrent program in the list. Now, click "Show processes from all users" you will see it listed.

11. You can launch uTorrent manually to access to its GUI.

--lamsao

[wheleph]

Trying to add the task as suggested above I got error 2147943726 (Logon failure: unknown user name or bad password) when scheduler tried to run it. To fix this I configured it to be run by SYSTEM account.

The only problem is that when you try to remove torrent (with data) by default it's moved to recycle bin of SYSTEM account that is not easily accessible from any other accounts. And what's happening is that the disk space is left occupied by those "removed" files. So configure uTorrent not to move removed files to trash (right-clicking on the remove button on toolbar)

--wheleph