Python script can't find file when using Windows Scheduler

Question

I have a batch file to execute Python and run a Python script that works fine when run manually. But when run using Windows Task Scheduler, the Python Script gives me a traceback because it can't find a.TXT file that's in the same file as the Python script.

There are many flavors of the "batch file works manually but not with Task Scheduler" problem. I think my problem may be related to the fact that my Python script is in a virtual environment. It may also be related to Windows user accounts and permissions. Past posts about Task Scheduler have been resolved with changing settings related to user accounts but so far that hasn't worked for me.

More details on Windows Task Scheduler settings:

Here are the settings I've chosen for the task:

My task gets closest to working when I use the "run only when user is logged on option. If I choose "run whether user is logged on or not" the task opens a Command Prompt but doesn't appear to execute anything.

More details about batch file

My batch file looks like this:

"C:\Users\MyPathtovirtualenvironment\virtualenv\Scripts\python.exe" "C:\Users\fried\Desktop\calendaralert\court_calendar_alert1.3_automatic.py" 
pause

When run manually, it does what it's supposed to: it executes Python from within the virtual environment, then loads the Python script, which runs correctly except when it's run from Windows Task Scheduler.

More details on Python script

The Python script works fine when run by itself in the command prompt and as a batch file, so I don't think there's anything directly wrong with it. Here's the part of the script that causes the traceback.

with open('replacements.txt') as f:
    replacements = dict(x.rstrip().split("!") for x in f)

The replacements.txt file is in the same folder as my Python program. I also tried putting copies of the file within the Virtual Environment folder and the /scripts subfolder without success.

Answer 1

Just came across this problem, while running a python script on a windows ec2 instance. The problem got solved by adding this at the top:

import os
path = "your-directory-path"
os.chdir(path)