diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8bfa101..17e3daa 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -283,43 +283,58 @@ Notes:
 ## Running Local Prefect Services on Windows (Task Scheduler)
 
 To run a local Prefect server and worker as background services on Windows, you can
-use PowerShell with Windows Task Scheduler and the provided templates:
+use Windows Task Scheduler with the provided templates:
 
 - `src/echodataflow/services/deploy_prefect_server.windows.task.xml`
 - `src/echodataflow/services/deploy_prefect_worker.windows.task.xml`
 
-1. Copy and customize the service environment file:
-   ```powershell
-   New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force "$HOME\.config\echodataflow"
-   New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force "$HOME\.local\var\log\echodataflow"
+1. Configure Prefect for the local server:
 
-   Copy-Item src\echodataflow\services\services.env.example_local `
-     "$HOME\.config\echodataflow\services.env"
+   ```powershell
+   prefect config set PREFECT_API_URL=http://127.0.0.1:4200/api
    ```
 
-2. Edit `$HOME\.config\echodataflow\services.env` as needed:
-   - Adjust `ECHODATAFLOW_ENV`
-   - Adjust `ECHODATAFLOW_HOME`
-   - Adjust `ECHODATAFLOW_WORKDIR`
-   - Adjust `ECHODATAFLOW_LOG_DIR`
-   - Adjust `MAMBA_BIN`
-   - Adjust `PREFECT_POOL`
-   - Adjust `PREFECT_API_URL`
+2. Render local Task Scheduler XML files from the templates:
 
-3. Copy and customize the Task Scheduler XML templates:
    ```powershell
-   Copy-Item src\echodataflow\services\deploy_prefect_server.windows.task.xml `
-     "$HOME\.config\echodataflow\prefect-server.task.xml"
-
-   Copy-Item src\echodataflow\services\deploy_prefect_worker.windows.task.xml `
-     "$HOME\.config\echodataflow\prefect-worker.task.xml"
+   $ConfigDir = "$HOME\.config\echodataflow"
+   New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force $ConfigDir | Out-Null
+
+   $User = whoami
+   $PrefectExe = (Get-Command prefect).Source
+   $WorkDir = (Get-Location).Path
+   $Pool = "local"
+
+   $Tasks = @{
+       "deploy_prefect_server.windows.task.xml" = "prefect-server.task.xml"
+       "deploy_prefect_worker.windows.task.xml" = "prefect-worker.task.xml"
+   }
+
+   foreach ($Task in $Tasks.GetEnumerator()) {
+       $Template = "src\echodataflow\services\$($Task.Key)"
+       $Output = Join-Path $ConfigDir $Task.Value
+
+       $Content = Get-Content $Template -Raw
+       $Content = $Content.Replace("__ECHODATAFLOW_USER__", $User)
+       $Content = $Content.Replace("__PREFECT_EXE__", $PrefectExe)
+       $Content = $Content.Replace("__ECHODATAFLOW_WORKDIR__", $WorkDir)
+       $Content = $Content.Replace("__PREFECT_POOL__", $Pool)
+       $Content = $Content.Replace('encoding="UTF-8"', 'encoding="UTF-16"')
+
+       [System.IO.File]::WriteAllText(
+           $Output,
+           $Content,
+           [System.Text.Encoding]::Unicode
+       )
+   }
    ```
 
-4. Both XML templates are self-contained and read their runtime configuration
-   from `$HOME\.config\echodataflow\services.env`, so they do not need separate
-   `deploy_prefect_*.windows.ps1` files or hard-coded repository script paths.
+   Run these commands from the Echodataflow repository root with the
+   `echodataflow` environment activated. The templates are kept as UTF-8 in the
+   repository and rendered as UTF-16 for Windows Task Scheduler.
+
+3. Register the scheduled tasks from an **Administrator PowerShell**:
 
-5. Register the scheduled tasks:
    ```powershell
    schtasks /Create /TN "echodataflow-prefect-server" `
      /XML "$HOME\.config\echodataflow\prefect-server.task.xml" /F
@@ -328,20 +343,24 @@ use PowerShell with Windows Task Scheduler and the provided templates:
      /XML "$HOME\.config\echodataflow\prefect-worker.task.xml" /F
    ```
 
-6. Start the tasks:
+4. Start the tasks:
+
    ```powershell
    schtasks /Run /TN "echodataflow-prefect-server"
+
    Start-Sleep -Seconds 10
+
    schtasks /Run /TN "echodataflow-prefect-worker"
    ```
 
-7. Check task status:
+5. Check task status:
+
    ```powershell
    schtasks /Query /TN "echodataflow-prefect-server" /V /FO LIST
    schtasks /Query /TN "echodataflow-prefect-worker" /V /FO LIST
    ```
 
-8. Verify the local Prefect server:
+6. Verify the local Prefect server:
 
    Open:
 
@@ -352,15 +371,12 @@ use PowerShell with Windows Task Scheduler and the provided templates:
    The Prefect dashboard should load, and the worker should appear online under
    **Work Pools**.
 
-9. To stop and delete the tasks:
+7. To stop and delete the tasks:
+
    ```powershell
    schtasks /End /TN "echodataflow-prefect-worker"
    schtasks /End /TN "echodataflow-prefect-server"
 
    schtasks /Delete /TN "echodataflow-prefect-worker" /F
    schtasks /Delete /TN "echodataflow-prefect-server" /F
-   ```
-
-## License
-
-Echodataflow is licensed under the open source [Apache 2.0 license](https://opensource.org/license/Apache-2.0).
+   ```
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/echodataflow/services/deploy_prefect_server.windows.task.xml b/src/echodataflow/services/deploy_prefect_server.windows.task.xml
index d400b71..4460a3c 100644
--- a/src/echodataflow/services/deploy_prefect_server.windows.task.xml
+++ b/src/echodataflow/services/deploy_prefect_server.windows.task.xml
@@ -12,10 +12,14 @@
     </LogonTrigger>
   </Triggers>
 
-  <!-- Run in the interactive user session -->
+  <!--
+    Run outside the interactive desktop session.
+    Values marked with __...__ are replaced during installation.
+  -->
   <Principals>
     <Principal id="Author">
-      <LogonType>InteractiveToken</LogonType>
+      <UserId>__ECHODATAFLOW_USER__</UserId>
+      <LogonType>S4U</LogonType>
       <RunLevel>LeastPrivilege</RunLevel>
     </Principal>
   </Principals>
@@ -33,63 +37,22 @@
     <Hidden>false</Hidden>
     <ExecutionTimeLimit>PT0S</ExecutionTimeLimit>
     <Priority>7</Priority>
+
     <RestartOnFailure>
       <Interval>PT1M</Interval>
       <Count>999</Count>
     </RestartOnFailure>
   </Settings>
 
-  <!-- Launch the PowerShell bootstrap logic directly -->
+  <!--
+    Launch Prefect directly so Task Scheduler supervises
+    the actual Prefect process tree.
+  -->
   <Actions Context="Author">
     <Exec>
-      <Command>powershell.exe</Command>
-
-      <!-- Inline startup script; runtime paths come from services.env -->
-      <Arguments><![CDATA[
-        -NoLogo
-        -NoProfile
-        -NonInteractive
-        -ExecutionPolicy Bypass
-        -Command "& {
-          $EnvFile = Join-Path $HOME '.config\echodataflow\services.env'
-
-          # Load service configuration from the standard user config location.
-          if (-not (Test-Path $EnvFile)) {
-              Write-Error ('Missing services env file: ' + $EnvFile)
-              exit 1
-          }
-
-          Get-Content $EnvFile | ForEach-Object {
-              if ($_ -match '^\s*([^#][^=]+)=(.*)$') {
-                  $Name = $matches[1].Trim()
-                  $Value = $matches[2].Trim()
-                  Set-Item -Path ('Env:' + $Name) -Value $Value
-              }
-          }
-
-          $RequiredVars = @(
-              'ECHODATAFLOW_ENV'
-              'ECHODATAFLOW_WORKDIR'
-              'ECHODATAFLOW_LOG_DIR'
-              'MAMBA_BIN'
-          )
-
-          foreach ($Var in $RequiredVars) {
-              if (-not (Get-Item -Path ('Env:' + $Var) -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) {
-                  Write-Error ('Missing required environment variable: ' + $Var)
-                  exit 1
-              }
-          }
-
-          New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path $env:ECHODATAFLOW_LOG_DIR | Out-Null
-          Set-Location $env:ECHODATAFLOW_WORKDIR
-
-          & $env:MAMBA_BIN run -n $env:ECHODATAFLOW_ENV `
-              prefect server start `
-              --host 127.0.0.1 `
-              --port 4200
-        }"
-      ]]></Arguments>
+      <Command>__PREFECT_EXE__</Command>
+      <Arguments>server start --host 127.0.0.1 --port 4200</Arguments>
+      <WorkingDirectory>__ECHODATAFLOW_WORKDIR__</WorkingDirectory>
     </Exec>
   </Actions>
-</Task>
\ No newline at end of file
+</Task>
diff --git a/src/echodataflow/services/deploy_prefect_worker.windows.task.xml b/src/echodataflow/services/deploy_prefect_worker.windows.task.xml
index b6ec83e..d1c790b 100644
--- a/src/echodataflow/services/deploy_prefect_worker.windows.task.xml
+++ b/src/echodataflow/services/deploy_prefect_worker.windows.task.xml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
     <Description>Run the local Echodataflow Prefect worker at user logon.</Description>
   </RegistrationInfo>
 
-  <!-- Start at user logon, after a short delay so the server can start first -->
+  <!-- Start after a short delay so the Prefect server can start first -->
   <Triggers>
     <LogonTrigger>
       <Enabled>true</Enabled>
@@ -13,10 +13,14 @@
     </LogonTrigger>
   </Triggers>
 
-  <!-- Run in the interactive user session -->
+  <!--
+    Run outside the interactive desktop session.
+    Values marked with __...__ are replaced during installation.
+  -->
   <Principals>
     <Principal id="Author">
-      <LogonType>InteractiveToken</LogonType>
+      <UserId>__ECHODATAFLOW_USER__</UserId>
+      <LogonType>S4U</LogonType>
       <RunLevel>LeastPrivilege</RunLevel>
     </Principal>
   </Principals>
@@ -34,63 +38,22 @@
     <Hidden>false</Hidden>
     <ExecutionTimeLimit>PT0S</ExecutionTimeLimit>
     <Priority>7</Priority>
+
     <RestartOnFailure>
       <Interval>PT1M</Interval>
       <Count>999</Count>
     </RestartOnFailure>
   </Settings>
 
-  <!-- Launch the PowerShell bootstrap logic directly -->
+  <!--
+    Launch Prefect directly so Task Scheduler supervises
+    the actual Prefect process tree.
+  -->
   <Actions Context="Author">
     <Exec>
-      <Command>powershell.exe</Command>
-
-      <!-- Inline startup script; runtime paths come from services.env -->
-      <Arguments><![CDATA[
-        -NoLogo
-        -NoProfile
-        -NonInteractive
-        -ExecutionPolicy Bypass
-        -Command "& {
-          $EnvFile = Join-Path $HOME '.config\echodataflow\services.env'
-
-          # Load service configuration from the standard user config location.
-          if (-not (Test-Path $EnvFile)) {
-              Write-Error ('Missing services env file: ' + $EnvFile)
-              exit 1
-          }
-
-          Get-Content $EnvFile | ForEach-Object {
-              if ($_ -match '^\s*([^#][^=]+)=(.*)$') {
-                  $Name = $matches[1].Trim()
-                  $Value = $matches[2].Trim()
-                  Set-Item -Path ('Env:' + $Name) -Value $Value
-              }
-          }
-
-          $RequiredVars = @(
-              'ECHODATAFLOW_ENV'
-              'ECHODATAFLOW_WORKDIR'
-              'ECHODATAFLOW_LOG_DIR'
-              'MAMBA_BIN'
-              'PREFECT_POOL'
-          )
-
-          foreach ($Var in $RequiredVars) {
-              if (-not (Get-Item -Path ('Env:' + $Var) -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) {
-                  Write-Error ('Missing required environment variable: ' + $Var)
-                  exit 1
-              }
-          }
-
-          New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path $env:ECHODATAFLOW_LOG_DIR | Out-Null
-          Set-Location $env:ECHODATAFLOW_WORKDIR
-
-          & $env:MAMBA_BIN run -n $env:ECHODATAFLOW_ENV `
-              prefect worker start `
-              --pool $env:PREFECT_POOL
-        }"
-      ]]></Arguments>
+      <Command>__PREFECT_EXE__</Command>
+      <Arguments>worker start --pool __PREFECT_POOL__</Arguments>
+      <WorkingDirectory>__ECHODATAFLOW_WORKDIR__</WorkingDirectory>
     </Exec>
   </Actions>
-</Task>
\ No newline at end of file
+</Task>