Five handy tools for keeping an eye on system processes
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Introduction
Introduction
When a Windows system becomes unresponsive, the Task Managerrnis often the go-to tool for figuring out the problem. But as helpful as thernTask Manager can be for tracking down the offending process, a number of otherrntools are available that can provide even more insight into what’s going on.rnThis article lists five tools for monitoring your system processes.
Note: This gallery is also available as an article.
Microsoft Process Monitor
Microsoft Process Monitor
Forrninstance, it will tell you if a process attempts to read a file or query arnregistry value. This makes Process Monitor an excellent tool for gainingrninsight into what is going on with Windows. Process Monitor is free.
Microsoft Process Explorer
Microsoft Process Explorer
Microsoft Process Explorer is another free component of the Sysinternals collection.rnThere is some overlap in capabilities between Process Monitor and Process Explorer,rnbut the tools were created for different purposes.
Microsoft Process Explorer
Microsoft Process Explorer
Process Explorer has been described as an advanced versionrnof Task Manager. Like Task Manager, it displays all the running processes andrntheir current levels of resource consumption. It also allows you to terminaternprocesses on an as-needed basis. However, Process Explorer goes beyond TaskrnManager in that it displays processes in a hierarchical tree and includes toolsrnfor finding handles and DLLs.
Process Lasso
Process Lasso
Process Lasso offers some really cool features, such as thernability to balance processes, park CPU cores, limit process instance counts,rnand configure anti-sleep processes. There is even a game mode that givesrnpreferential treatment to designated processes.
Process Lasso sells for $32.95, but a free 30-day trialrnis available for download.
Process Hacker
Process Hacker
Process Hacker includes all the functionality you wouldrnexpect, plus some nice extras. For example, it can verify file signatures andrnsend a message to a user who is running a particular process.
Process Cleaner
Process Cleaner
I wouldn’t normally recommend a program like this onernbecause it has an amateurish feel to it. However, Process Cleaner couldrnprove to be useful for manually combatting malware infections. The tool isn’trnsomething that I would use every day, but if I needed the ability to immediatelyrnshut down large numbers of potentially infected processes, I would definitelyrngive Process Cleaner a try.
