I create a scheduled task that runs every 5 hours and enabled the "Delay task for up to (random delay)" option for 2 hours. A found a few problems with this but before I start making changes I'd like to better understand what is happening versus my expectations.
In the last week this task has been running, during several days, the task ran 5 times per day. That shouldn't happen, right? I want it to run every 5 hours. 5 hours times 5 occurrences gives me 25 hours, right? And that doesn't include the random time (up to 2 hours) that should be added to the "base" of 5 hours. I expected this task to run 3 or 4 times a day.
The Next Run Time displayed in the Task Scheduler list is never correct. It displays what appears to be a randomized start time but the task never runs at that time. The task could run earlier, maybe later than the displayed time.
Is there anyway I can get the true start time before it actually starts? The Last Run Time is correct but I'd like to be able to know when the task will run again for reboots, patching, etc.
Is my understanding of the "base" interval and random delay correct? A task should run after the "base" plus random delay has elapsed, correct? For example, a 4 hour base with 2 hours of random delay should not run 6 times in a day; it will trigger 4 or 5 times per day, correct?