Start service from Task Scheduler as minimised

The problem is that when you configure the shortcut to run minimized you launch minimized only the program that starts the scheduled task, not the program that the task executes. You need another piece in your Rube Goldberg machine launch sequence, make the following changes:

• Program\script = C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe
• Add arguments (optional) = /c start /min net start "SERVICE-NAME"

The first "start" is the cmd.exe start command, which we use for two functions:

1. Launch net.exe minimized.
2. Make taskeng.exe finish as soon as net.exe is launched instead of waiting for it to finish.

Note that this solution is not perfect as taskeng.exe will flash briefly until the net.exe is launched, but usually less than a second.