Any Windows experience is never complete without opening the task manager to find out which application is using all your RAM, or to end a program that is frozen for ten minutes, which has no hope. But it is also not the best tool for the job – something else that you should use instead.
Task Manager: Personal and versatile
The task manager is practically now synonymous with Windows, roughly due to the fact that it is one of the most commonly used utilities in the operating system.
Need to eliminate a unanswered app? Open the work manager to do so. It needs to see what your resource usage is? The task manager has your back. You can also control your startup apps from the task manager, which is extremely convenient than the old ways.
However, the task manager offers only a small glimpse that is actually running with all your applications on your PC. If you have any problem, then you need something that can give you more information.
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Simple work management!
Task manager is not always helpful
The most common reason is that people launch the task manager, ending an app that is defective, leggings or completely frozen. Unfortunately, the task manager cannot really tell you much about the problem. In fact, only one thing Be able to do Lets you tell how many systems an application is using and where the executable is stored on your PC.
It is also very opaque. If you have ever opened a task manager and have seen a long list of svchost.exe with zero reference, you are not alone – the task manager cannot only display relevant information.
If you are doing any kind of troubleshooting, or if you just want more information, you have to see elsewhere.
Process explorer should be your first stop, as it solves all those problems and more.
Process explorer is a task manager dialing on 11
Process explorer-Originally a third-party app Microsoft was acquired in the early 2000s-takes the best parts of the task manager and gives you a lot.
Unlike the task manager, the process explorer is designed keeping in mind troubleshooting and power-users.
Svchost.exe is a native Windows process that hosts various Windows services as an example. In the task manager, you will see that there is a long list of service host or svchost.exe with no explanation. On the other hand, in the process explorer, you find all the details you ever wanted.
If you hover over this process, you can immediately see which executable it is and with which command line arguments the process was initiated. If you want even more details, just right-click on the process and go to “Properties”. There you can get a treasure of information, including a little bit about the performance history, executable location and safety details, and what is applying in real time.
If you are having a problem with a Windows service malfunction – a problem that is still relatively normal – this is a great place to start your investigation.
Once you know who you are working with, you can use process explorer to eliminate or restart any problem processes.
You can also get an DMP, or dump, file from a procedure. They are not always easy to work, but they can provide a lot of information about what has gone wrong.
Process explorer makes it easy to spot a virus
While Windows has grown much better in preventing malware infections, as it used to be, users provided to install any apps that they want to regularly move regularly the malware infections.
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Unfortunately, it is not always easy to spot malware. You see a strange executable in the task manager (or process explorer) and you are wondering where it came from and can it be a virus. Luckily for all of us, like services Wirstotal The exist is that lets you compare those files and execution that you find for known malware and run a file through dozens of antivirus scanners simultaneously. You only need to upload the file in the question.
Process explorer automatically automatically makes the whole thing. You just need to right-click on your unknown process in the process explorer and choose “Virustotal.com”.
If executable is compared to the wirestotal database and the results are displayed in a column on the right. In the case of discord.exe, which I knew as a safe, iconic application, Virustotal shows that none of the 77 anti-malware programs detected discords as malware.
If you want a detailed breakdown, you can always click on the result to go to the virustotal page instead.
This facility has been over the years, but some people have known about it, which is a matter of shame – it is incredible.
Given how much competent process explorer is, when I have a malfunction app, I no longer launch the task manager. I go directly to process the explorer using a shortcut made with autohotki.
