Home
>
Software
>
Troubleshoot Windows with Task Manager

Troubleshoot Windows with Task Manager

Task Manager is a Windows system utility that displays the
tasks or processes currently running on your computer. To
open Task Manager, press Ctrl+Alt+Del. The Applcations tab
lists the applications currently running on your computer.
A single application may actually consist of several running
processes, and many programs that run in the background are
not listed (you can see icons for some of these programs in
the System Tray).

Note: With Windows 98 and Windows Me, Ctrl+Alt+Del will
open Program Manager, which allows you only to close
aplications. However, you can download one of the many Task
Manager utilities from the Web.

The Processes tab displays a comprehensive list of all the
processes currently running on your computer. This can be
very useful for monitoring your system. The process tab
displays information about the processor useage and memory
usage of each process. The problem is, how to identify a
process. Below is a list of some processes you may see in
Task Managers Processes list.

"System Idle Process"
"System" The Windows System Process
"SMSS.EXE" Session Manager Subsystem
"CSRSS.EXE" Client Server Runtime Subsystem
"WinLOGON.EXE" The Windows Logon process
"SERVICES.EXE" Services Control Manager
"LSASS.EXE" Local Security Authentication Server Service
"svchost.exe" Service Host
"spoolsv.exe" The print spooler service
"explorer.exe" Windows Explorer
"TASKMGR.EXE" The Task Manager
"regsvc.exe" Remote Registry Service

"System Idle Process" is basically another name for the
time when Windows is doing nothing. There are hundreds of
thousands of processes that run on a computer, so you will
definitely find names of many other processess that are
not listed above. For a list of well known processes,
visit www.answersthatwork.com/tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm
You can also learn about almost any task by using it's
name as a search term in google.

Task Manager can also be used to tweak your system if it's
running slow. The Performance tab displays running graphs
of your computers CPU and memory usage. If the CPU usage
seems to be running over 80 percent most of the time, or if
the memory usage seems to be running higher than the total
physical memory, you may want to shut down some
applications or processes.

On the Process tab, you can identify processes that are
consuming a lot of processor time. Click twice on the CPU
column heading to sort the CPU column so the processes
hogging the most CPU time on top. You can sort the
"Mem Usage" column the same way.

On the Application tab, if you right click on the name of
an application and, in the popup menu that appears, choose
"Go To Process", Task Manager will open the Processes tab
and highlight the process that runs the application. On the
Processes tab, if you right-click on the name of a process,
you can choose "SetPriority" and promote the priority of
the process you need (or demote the priority of a different
process to free up some resources).

If you go to the Application tab and shut down an
application, you will shut down any processes related to
that application. Or, you might choose to shut down a
background process that you can identify. To shut down an
application or process, click on it's name in the list to
highlight it, then click on the End Task button.

On the Processes tab, if you right click on the name of a
process, you can choose "End Process Tree" to kill the
process and any sub-processes started by the process.

Task Manager can also be used for troubleshooting. If an
application freezes up, you can open Task Manager and shut
down the application. If the entire system freezes up, you
can use Task Manager to shut down a process that is hogging
all the CPU time or memory.

If you spend some time monitoring your computer with task
Manager, eventually you will become familiar with the
processes that commonly run. Then, when you see an
unfamiliar process, you can do a little investigation to
make sure it's not a virus. For example, if you see
msblast.exe in the process list, your computer is infected
with the Blaster virus. You might be able to detect and
eliminate a new virus before an antivirus update is available.

----------------------------------------------------------
Resource Box:
Copyright(C)2004 Bucaro TecHelp. To learn how to maintain
your computer and use it more effectively to design a Web
site and make money on the Web visit bucarotechelp.com
To subscribe to Bucaro TecHelp Newsletter Send a blank
email to www.answersthatwork.com/tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm
------------ ----------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------
Permission is granted for the below article to forward,
reprint, distribute, use for ezine, newsletter, website,
offer as free bonus or part of a product for sale as long
as no changes are made and the byline, copyright, and the
resource box below is included.
----------------------------------------------------------

To learn how to maintain your computer and use it more effectively to design a Web site and make money on the Web visit www.answersthatwork.com/tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm To subscribe to Bucaro TecHelp Newsletter Send a blank email to www.answersthatwork.com/tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

recurring cleaning service Mundelein ..

In The News:

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Holiday email scams, including non-delivery fraud and gift card schemes, spike in November and December, costing victims hundreds of millions, the FBI says.

Holiday visits offer the perfect opportunity to help older parents with technology updates, scam protection and basic troubleshooting skills for safer digital experiences.

Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Cybersecurity research shows weak passwords remain a major threat, with simple patterns and number sequences putting millions of accounts at risk.

New Android malware BankBot YNRK silences phones, steals banking data and drains crypto wallets automatically. Learn how this advanced threat works.

FDA approves first human trial for Paradromics' brain-computer interface that could restore speech for paralyzed patients through neural technology.

New phishing platform QRR targets Microsoft 365 users across 1,000 domains in 90 countries. Learn how to spot fake login pages and protect your accounts.

OpenTable now uses AI to track your dining habits and share insights with restaurants. Learn what data they collect and how to protect your privacy.

Google's discontinued Nest thermostats still secretly upload home data to company servers despite losing smart features, raising serious privacy concerns.

New Android malware NGate steals NFC payment codes in real-time, allowing criminals to withdraw cash from ATMs without your card. Learn protection tips.

DoorDash confirms data breach exposing customer names, emails, addresses after social engineering attack. Learn how to protect yourself from scams.

Troubleshoot Windows with Task Manager

Software