Add a task to start Windows drivers using the Task Scheduler

Introduction

This page is part of the CIFS-over-SSH tutorial for Windows 7, 8 and 10. You are reading this most likely because some necessary Windows drivers did not start automatically after following the tutorial.
In this section, we will add a task using the Windows Task Scheduler to launch those drivers at system startup time. This part of the tutorial is split into the following parts:

Create a task to start the 'SMB' driver, mostly for Windows 7.
Create a task to start the 'LanmanServer' driver, mostly for Windows 8+.
Note that some users have problems to make these tasks persistent. Chris Clifton reported that he had to create TWO tasks to first disable the LanmanServer driver and then secondly enable it again. So the first task follows the same procedure as above, but using
```
  sc config LanmanServer start= disabled
```
followed by a second task with
```
  sc config LanmanServer start= delayed-auto
```
YMMW, and let me know what works for you.

Creating a task to start the 'SMB' driver

Of course, now that we have disabled the automatic startup of the 'SMB' driver we need to start it manually when Windows comes up, or rather, when a user logs in. For this we use the Windows Task Scheduler:

Start the 'Task Scheduler' from the 'Administrative Tasks' menu:
Click on 'Create Basic Task' to use the Task Wizard. A new window will come up:

Enter the name of the task, e.g. Start SMB driver and click Next.
Choose an event to trigger the execution of the task. We will change this later on, so for now, choose When I log in:

and click Next.
Next we need to choose the type of action:

Select the entry Start a program and click Next.
Fill in the details of the program we want to start:
- The Program is 'c:\windows\system32\net.exe'
- The Arguments are 'start smb'
Then click Next to continue.
Before clicking 'Finish' first select the tickbox 'Open the properties dialog':

and then click Finish.
In the 'Task Properties' window select Run whether user is logged on or not, then select Do not store password. After that, also select the tickbox Run with highest privileges:

Do NOT click 'OK' just yet, but go to the 'Triggers' tab, then double-click the 'At log on' trigger to edit it.
In the 'Edit Trigger' window change the setting 'Specific user or group' to Any user:

then go to the 'Conditions' tab:
In the 'Conditions' window make sure the setting 'Start the task only if the computer is on AC power' is NOT set:

and then click OK.

The task is now configured. Close the Task Scheduler and reboot to verify that the driver now starts at system bootup time.

Creating a task to start the 'LanmanServer' driver

Of course, now that we have disabled the automatic startup of the 'LanmanServer' driver we need to start it manually when Windows comes up, or rather, when a user logs in. For this we use the Windows Task Scheduler:

Start the 'Task Scheduler' from the 'Administrative Tasks' menu:
Click on 'Create Basic Task' to use the Task Wizard. A new window will come up:

Enter the name of the task, e.g. Start LanmanServer driver and click Next.
Choose an event to trigger the execution of the task. We will change this later on, so for now, choose When I log in:

and click Next.
Next we need to choose the type of action:

Select the entry Start a program and click Next.
Fill in the details of the program we want to start:
- The Program is 'c:\windows\system32\svchost.exe'
- The Arguments are '-k netsvcs'
Then click Next to continue.
Before clicking 'Finish' first select the tickbox 'Open the properties dialog':

and then click Finish.
In the 'Task Properties' window select Run whether user is logged on or not, then select Do not store password. After that, also select the tickbox Run with highest privileges:

Do NOT click 'OK' just yet, but go to the 'Triggers' tab, then double-click the 'At log on' trigger to edit it.
In the 'Edit Trigger' window change the setting 'Specific user or group' to Any user:

then go to the 'Conditions' tab:
In the 'Conditions' window make sure the setting 'Start the task only if the computer is on AC power' is NOT set:

and then click OK.

The task is now configured. Close the Task Scheduler and reboot to verify that the driver now starts at system bootup time.