For non-persistent Instant-clones using VMware's clone-prep I have installed the UF with the launchsplunk=0 onto the master/gold image. The I run "splunk clone-prep-clear-config", set the service to manual so it doesn't start automatically on the master/gold image and publishing the desktops. Then I have a scheduled task that runs a few minutes after the user logons the calls an elevated command to "splunk.exe restart" to erase the GUID and generate a new GUID prior to the splunkd service starting.
Is there a way for the process that this invokes to run silently? ie no pop-up screen
It seems like this is an issue with the scheduled task settings.
To make the process run in the background, you could set it to "Run whether user is logged in or not", or you could set it to run as the SYSTEM user.
You could also try using powershell to run a bat file containing your command(s):
powershell "start <executable path> -WindowStyle Hidden"