Error  0x8007052e - Scheduled task restrictions with Windows Vista Starter and Home Editions

This article relates to Windows Vista Home Basic, Vista Home Premium, and Vista Starter editions and explains how to detect and overcome Vista error 0x8007052e /  2147943726 when running a scheduled disk image or file backup.

Macrium Reflect uses the standard Windows Task Scheduler to schedule backup and image jobs. Unfortunately, Microsoft has restricted all  'Home' and 'Starter' versions of Vista by disabling the ability to store user credentials (User name and password) between Windows reboots.  

So, if you are running Vista Basic, Home or Home Premium then you may see error code 0x8007052e (Logon failure: unknown user name or bad password) for your task in the Reflect scheduled task list.

The backup will not have run and there will be no log for the failure.

When you initially set up a scheduled task it will run without a problem, whether the scheduled task user is logged on or not. But, after you reboot or restart Windows the task will *only* run if the scheduled task user is currently logged on to Windows. 

Please Note:  This is a Microsoft design 'feature' and doesn't affect Vista Business or Ultimate editions. There is a cryptic 'admission' to this product differentiation here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931711

How can I avoid this error?
The only way to ensure your task runs is to always log onto Windows using the scheduled task user and to use the 'Switch User' option rather than 'Logoff' if you have multiple users on your PC.

Fortunately, you can set Vista to automatically logon a user when Windows starts.

Setting Vista to automatically logon a user

1. Click 'Start' then type 'netplwiz' in the search box and press 'Enter'.
   
   
2. The 'User Accounts' dialog is displayed:
   
   
   
   
3. Select the user that runs your scheduled tasks then deselect the 'Users must enter a user name and password...' option and click 'OK'
   
   
4. You will be prompted to enter the password for the selected user:
   
   
   
   
   Enter the password and click 'OK'
   Now Vista will automatically logon the selected user when Windows starts.
   
   
5. To prevent this user from logging off and potentially causing the same error you must take the 'Lock' rather than 'Log Off' option:
   
   
   
   
   
   Similarly, if you want to logon as a different user then take the 'Switch User' option.
   
   
   
   

Footnote 

As already mentioned, this is by design and doesn't affect Vista Business or Ultimate editions.

Resources

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931711 
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/appcompat/aa906020.aspx