RoboTask 10.2

Overview

Performing the same set of tasks repeatedly on your computer can consume time as well as become annoying sometimes. A solution to eliminate this hassle is a very smart program, RoboTask, which can automate complex and simple tasks on your computer that need to be carried multiple times; such as, clear temporary files, run applications, manage automatic backups, open documents, check or send e-mails, shut down windows and power off computer, uploads or downloads files with FTP and web servers, and many more. Creating automated tasks with RoboTask is no rocket science; its user-friendly design lets even beginners to create advanced automated tasks that include loops, custom variables or conditional IF/ELSE statements.

Installation

Installation of RoboTask involves very basic steps, does not offer any third-party software or other threats, and does not take more than a minute. Generic details will be asked by the wizard such as setup destination path, Startup menu folder, additional icons (Desktop icon, QuickLaunch icon). Finally, it will show an option to launch the program right away or later on. It is compatible with these Operating Systems: Windows 2000/ XP/ 2003/ Vista/ 2008/ 7/ 8.

Interface

Graphical interface of the program is decent, user-friendly, and instinctive. The layout is simple with three main panels – Tree (for listing Task folders), Task details, and Logs (for executed task). In the main Toolbar, icons are shown for performing main actions like Run task, Stop Task, Create New Task, Edit Task, and Settings. These icons plus the ones shown in Tree panel are quite self-explanatory, and so their function can be easily guessed.

Pros

• This program lets you create, edit, and automate numerous tasks varying from simple tasks like, viewing Temp files or opening documents to complex tasks like Batch FTP upload, create XML library or other error handling tasks
• Its layout is designed in such a way that it is easy-to-use for even novice users who have little or no understanding of programming; and so they can create more advanced tasks by adding conditional If/Else statements, custom variables, and loops
• In order to define various methods to execute a particular task, you can add ‘Triggering events’ including Scheduler, Hot keys, Tray Icon, File Monitor, On Time change, and On Log Off. For example, on selecting ‘Scheduler’ triggering event, you can set the exact time for printing out a document from your computer
• You can further configure the actions to be performed during and after task execution such as, Log level can be configured to show Errors and Warnings, Errors only or All messages; Task could be deleted or disabled after task completion; action to perform in case of error occurrence – Stop task, Continue its execution or Run the Error Handling Task
• It can be run as Windows Service as well which allows the execution of automated task even when you are not logged on to your system
• A very useful feature is Macro Recorder (shown in the Task Editor under Actions tab) that allows you to record sequences of mouse movements taking place on your screen. The recorded macro is later on transformed into actions and specified as task step
• The Help file is documented well and explains the working and purpose for all the features of the program in detail

Cons

• Adding hotkeys in Triggering events did not work, as the selected keys from the keyboard were not saved as hotkeys
• Some of the features are disabled in its 30-day trial version
• Macro Recording did not record as per expectations

Alternatives

Macro Mania, WinAutomation, and WinMacro are some programs that can be used as alternatives for RoboTask. Macro Mania is a reliable program which creates macros that perform automated tasks based on the data on screen, the existence of a file or a window or the information in files. WinAutomation is a multi-faceted program that can work as a Macro recorder, a Web Recorder and an Advanced Task Scheduler. WinMacro is a Macro Recorder which is capable of recording actions taking place on Windows Desktop and later these automated tasks can be replayed at any time.

Conclusion

RoboTask saves you from repetition of performing same tasks again and again, thus helps you in saving time and increasing productivity. It has a wide range of features to automate your tasks and is efficient in performing most of these tasks. Help file describes the program’s working quite well, so you can consult it whenever you seem to stuck somewhere.  The program works well in terms of performance and results, so we would recommend it to all the users.