System Explorer

System Explorer is a mix between Process Explorer and Autoruns from Sysinternals. It reveals many information related to running processes, services and tasks and gives insight into additional system related information such as loaded drivers, open connections and Internet Explorer Add-ons like Browser Helper Objects.

Every function of System Explorer is always only one click away. Each function displays information that can be sorted in various ways. The services tab for instance can be sorted by name, service name, status, startup type, service type and directory.

A right-click on an individual item, a service for instance, adds more options like opening the Registry reference of that item, open the file directory or perform a search on the Internet to find out additional information about it. It is possible as well to stop, start and delete items in System Explorer which comes in handy if you want to check the autostarts of the system or remove drivers that are no longer needed.

Several comfort functions make it easier to work with System Explorer. The View menu on top can be used to filter results. It is for instance possible to Hide all Microsoft entries from being displayed.

The System Utilities menu is noteworthy as well. It has links to several Windows system utilities such Services and Computer Management.

It is also positive that System Explorer runs right out of the box, no installation is needed at all. It provides a clean fast overview of many important aspects of Windows and can be used to analyze a system.

There was only one thing bothering me. It was not possible to change the startup mode of the services. I was able to stop a service that I did not need but it would be loaded at next system start again because it was set to automatic. This would be a great improvement.

Related Articles:

Author: Martin Brinkmann, Thursday December 27, 2007 -
Tags:windows software