If this sounds like something you want to try out, you can download Daphne for free from this link:

The setup is typical and the parent folder will be found in Windows\Program Files(x86). You can choose to open the application after setup or use the desktop icon to open it later.

You can view %CPU, PID, Process, Path (where specified), Owner, Priority, Class, Memory occupation, Peaks, Swap, Thread, I/O reads and I/O writes. This is all displayed in the main window and the options panel is at the bottom of the window.

The dropdown menu gives you the different actions that you can apply to specific processes. Select the action you want to execute and then drag the icon to the left of the search box and drop it on the process to which you will apply the action.

Windows Task Manager begins to look very limited in comparison to the functions of Daphne. You can use the right-click context menu to choose a variety of options for actions. An interesting feature to demonstrate as an example is the ability to kill a process at an application or process at a particular time, select the process and right-click and choose “Kill at” from the context menu. You may then set the date and time to kill the application. In this example, Yahoo Messenger is selected to be killed at a specific time. This is useful for stopping this application when you don’t want to use it anymore. It is a good application, but the pop-up messages can get annoying after a certain period of time and it is convenient to have it stop automatically.

Use the Settings button in the bottom pane to customize different options such as startup behavior, setting traps, enable Windows Explorer integration, and advanced settings configuration. Highlight the process or application that you want to set options for and click the Settings button to access these options.

Click the Daphne button to see hidden applications, schedule system shutdown, show installed software, etc.

Daphne is quite versatile and easy to learn. It is compatible with Windows XP, Windows 7, and Vista for 32-bit and 64-bit versions. It certainly offers a level of control that exceeds that of Windows Task Manager alone.

The issues with the old task manager was that it was difficulty to compare the cells in the cpu usage history with each other. Microsoft has identified three core limitations with regards to the cpu charts in the Windows 7 task manager.

First the already mentioned lack of effective real-time cpu usage comparisons. Then that the graphs were reduced in size the more cpu processors were displayed in the performance chart, and finally that it was almost impossible to identify a corresponding processor ID.

Microsoft has made significant modifications to the Task Manager performance tab under Windows 8. The new features have been implemented in a development version of the operating system that has been produced after the release of the Windows 8 Developer Preview.

When users open the performance tab in the Windows 8 Task Manager, they will notice that Microsoft has integrated a heatmap into the display.

Microsoft has done away with the graphs and replaced the information with percentage values showing the cpu load.

In addition, hovering over any processor ID on the map displays the logical processor ID in a tooltip right in the task manager. The Task Manager scales well even to large data sets or small windows. A scrollbar is displayed in the latter case to make enough room for displaying up to 640 logical processors.

The heat map is an interesting idea for large scale systems. It in combination with the direct display of processor loads and individual process identifications a great upcoming enhancements for server administrators.

It is however not clear why Microsoft in the same news post mentioned that users could set the cpu affinity of each process in Windows individually, as it is a feature that is has been available for a while. Unless of course the settings are saved over sessions.

You can read the new post over at the Building Windows 8 blog.

A click on More Details in the Task Manager expands the display to make it look more like the Task Manager known from previous Windows versions.

When you look closer though you will notice that there are fundamental differences that may make the Task Manager unusable for system administrators and tech savvy users. Lets take a look at the Task Manager in Windows 8:

And now as a comparison the Task Manager in Windows 7:

Probably the first thing that you will notice is that the Windows 8 Task Manager is dividing processes into groups like Applications, Background Processes or Windows Processes. This may provide a better overview of tasks, but some users may criticize that it is now more difficulty to look at all tasks as they are not sorted alphabetically anymore. You can change the display with a right-click on the status bar and a click on “Group by Type” there.

If you look closer, you will notice that Windows 8 displays service and application names instead of the process executable. Microsoft has removed the option to add or remove columns from the View menu. You now need to right-click on a column in the Task Manager to see the selection of available information that you can display in the window. Among the options is the process name which adds the file executable to the interface again.

Good thing is that Windows will remember the modifications that you have made to the Task Manager. It will launch the task manager in detailed view directly and with the layout changes that you have made in a previous session.

I personally dislike the way the new Task Manager is delivered to the user. The default state is absolutely useless and the detailed view only becomes a working solution once you make the modifications mentioned above. Once you have modified it it resembles the old task manager. Some users on the other hand may feel the need to switch to a task manager replacement like Process Explorer instead.

Double-click the application to open and install. Task Manager Modder will launch immediately after setup. The first things to appear will be a Readme file with the User Agreement and some instructions on how to use Task Manager Modder. Once you have reviewed this, agree by clicking yes on the window shown in the screenshot below.

It is not necessary to create a restore point prior to setup, as you can use the utility to easily restore default settings. However, if you truly want to be able to restore, create a restore point anyway. It certainly cannot cause any harm. The management console is simple to use and it is fun to play around with. Granted, this is by no means necessary.

The toolbar at the bottom of the window allows you to adjust the color settings for the Bar, Hex Digits, Hex Memory Line, Hex CPU Line and the Hex Grid. Make sure to close the Task Manager before making modifications. You can start with the Bar and use the sliding control to adjust the color. For the other settings, check the boxes next to them and then click on the buttons next to the boxes. This will open a window in which you can select custom colors from the grid. After you have changed the color scheme, click “Modify Taskmgr”. Task Manager will generally open at this point and you will see the active changes. Depending on your computer settings, Task Manager may not open and you can open it manually.

The modified appearance can be adjusted any way you like. The permutations of color schemes for Task Manager are numerous and flexible. Best of all, you are not stuck with it. It is easy to change the appearance at any time or restore default settings. Just shut down Task Manager and make modifications as before. Here is an example of a quick change that took exactly 1:07 minutes to implement.

That is all there is to it. Now you have an additional customization utility in your toolbox. Virtually all Windows in the operating system can be customized using the right tools.

Why bother checking?

Performance. Especially when you turn on your computer. The time it takes to load each piece of software adds up quickly, increasing your boot time. This can cause instability too. There is a chance that some of these programs could be harmful, but most antivirus programs check for them. The focus here is to figure out what is running on a computer, identify the programs, and introduce tools to help with the process.

Listing What is Running

The main tool to find out what is running in Windows is the Task Manager. Use Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open it directly. There are also a variety of alternatives to choose from. For a Linux system, use the ps command or use the System Monitor. These tools will list the programs and processes that are running on your computer. Some of them will be standard process that are a part of the operating system, but many will be foreign to even experienced users.

Known Processes

Here is a list of what would appear on a Windows XP system. To be clear, these programs are a part of Windows; they are needed. What each item does is an article unto itself. What is listed here is the file name and the pronounced name of the programs. This list can change for different versions of Windows. In time, a user should become familiar with these and the typical processes of their computer.

• csrss.exe – Client/Server Runtime Server Subsystem
• lsass.exe – Local Security Authority Service
• mdm.exe – Machine Debug Manager
• services.exe – Windows Service Controller

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• smss.exe – Session Manager Subsystem
• spoolsv.exe – Printer Spool Service
• svchost.exe – Service Host (expect to see it running multiple times)
• taskmgr.exe – The standard Task Manager itself.
• winlogon.exe – Windows Logon Process

Unknown Processes

Chances are that the list of programs running on a computer is a lot longer than the list above. Keep in mind that whatever you are doing will show up in that list (which is why taskmgr.exe will not show up if you use an alternative). For example, if you are running Firefox, expect to see firefox.exe in the list.

Figuring out what an unknown program is will help you decide if you really need it. There are two main methods: find where the file is and a Google search. (A third might be to look at a program file name (e.g. Mcshield.exe) and guess what it is (McAfee).) Windows 7 and Vista users can simply customize the view to show file paths. To search for a file manually, press Win+F to open the File Search. Alternatively, we recommend the replacement Locate32. Type in the name of the unknown program (including the .exe) and search. The key is to look at the location of the program, which should tell you what it does or who the author is (McAfee being another good example). The folder it is in will probably have a name you recognize and contain documentation (e.g. readme.txt). If things are not clear by this point, turn to Google. There are a variety of websites that have archives of processes and will tell you what they do. Neuber.com is commonly seen in search results and has a more extensive list than above.

Tools to Help

Ghacks has covered an extensive list of tools that can help you in this task. Here are just a few samples.

PC Decrapifier: This program identifies useless programs, provides information on them, and gives an option to remove them.

Malwarebytes: A tool that specializes in identifying and removing malware and spyware.

Spybot: A tool that can find and remove spyware, tracking cookies, etc.

msconfig: A tool that comes with Windows used to show and control what runs when a computer turns on.

Startup Control Panel: A program designed to make it easy to control what runs at boot on your computer and can integrate with the control panel.

Some Things to Consider

Once you know what is running on your system, think through and be careful with what you want to turn off. The instructions here are designed to help you “know what you are doing,” but one article can only teach you so much. It will cause a problem if you turn off something needed (via closing, altering settings, or uninstall); it will help your computer to get rid of rubbish programs.

For some time, the familiar three-finger tactic of Ctrl+Alt+Del would bring you directly to Windows Task Manager. That was the case until Windows Vista was born from the Microsoft womb. Now it simply brings up a Windows Security Screen presenting five options, one of which is Windows Task Manager. As stated previously, malware can block this tried and true tactic, though it is reasonable to try this first.

The easiest method for opening Windows Task Manager is to right-click the taskbar and then select Task Manager. This is a two-click method, but you can also create an Automatic HotKey that will bring up the task manager with a single key click. You can download a free utility for this: AutoHotkey download page.

All information is included to create a HotKey for Windows Task Manager, or any other application. The next option is to use the Run command. At the Start Menu, select All Programs and then under Accessories, click the Run command. Type taskmgr and press Enter. The Task Manager opens.

Ctrl+Shift+Esc will bring up the Task Manager as well, at least on most versions of Windows. This is your next bailout.
If all else fails, you can use the lengthy method of browsing to taskmgr.exe. Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\taskmgr.exe. Double click taskmgr.exe and you are in.

Finally, create a desktop shortcut to access Task Manager. Do this in addition to creating a HotKey. That gives you two quick default access methods. Simply right-click on your desktop and select New and then click Shortcut and a window will open. Follow the same path as above: C:\Windows\System32\taskmgr.exe. Click Next and type a name for the shortcut then click Finish to conclude. This will create a desktop icon allowing you to immediately open Windows Task Manager in the event of malware infection or any other reason. I highly recommend this and the HotKey approach. They are the fastest ways to open Task Manager when it is impaired by malware.

Follow these steps and you can’t fail. You will trick any virus and be able to stop malware processes and effectively remove the malware using your antivirus software.

Martin’s Comment: Please note that there may be malware that blocks the task manager completely, so that not the access method, but the program itself cannot be opened by the user of the operating system. Your best in such a situation is to scan the system with antivirus software like Avast, Microsoft Security Essentials, AVG or one of the commercial solutions like Kaspersky, Symantec or BitDefender.

New tasks lists are created with a double-click on the sidebar ,by right-clicking and selecting Add To-Do List, with the shortcut Ctrl-r or via the To-Do List menu of the menubar.

New tasks are basically added the same way. The only difference is that the actions need to be performed in the task pane and not the sidebar.

Tasks are defined by a name and due date. The task list manager offers several optional parameters that can be defined by the user. It is for instance possible to configure reminders, add notes, select a task priority or select a task type.

The reminder notifies the user (by default with a flashing window and sound, optionally with an email) at the specified time, and before the due date, that the task has not been completed yet. Only text can be added to notes which limits the functionality a bit.

Checkboxes are provided next to each tasks which can be used to mark them as completed. Both task priorities and types can be configured under the Manage menu. Here it is possible to add new priorities and types or change their appearance.

Task Lists can be printed on a connected printer or exported as HTML or csv files.

Task List Guru is an easy to use task list organizer for the Windows operating system. It comes with all the bells and whistles one would expect, except for syncing options with online task managers like Google Tasks.

Windows users can download the free program that us fully compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows from the developer website over at Dextronet.

Process Explorer shows you information about “which handles and DLLs processes have opened or loaded”. If you ever wanted to know what’s launching all those svchost processes, or why a process has been launched then Process Explorer is the tool to reveal those information.

But what’s new in Process Explorer 14? Take a look at this brief paragraph:

This major update to Process Explorer adds a slew of enhancements and new functionality including network and disk monitoring, an improved multi-tab system information dialog, additional memory statistics, a new column that shows aggregate CPU usage for a tree of processes, improved DLL scanning performance and accuracy, command-lines in process tree tooltips, support for more than 64 CPU systems, and more.

A few interesting additions. The tree cpu usage column for instance can be helpful to determine the cpu usage of a program spawning multiple processes, like Google Chrome for instance (last column in the screenshot).

Process Explorer 14 is available for download at the official Windows Sysinternals website. It is also possible to run Process Explorer directly from http://live.sysinternals.com/procexp.exe.

Getting Things GNOME is a GNOME tool that takes the task list to the next level. GTG allows for tag-able task, add sub tasks, includes a plugin systems (with plenty of included plugins),  and more. And in this Ghacks.net article, I am going to show you how to install and use this helpful tool.

Installation

As you have come to expect, the installation of GTG is very straight forward. For just about any distribution that includes the GNOME desktop you can install with these easy steps:

1. Open up your Add/Remove Software utility.
2. Search for “gtg” (no quotes).
3. Select Getting Things GNOME for installation.
4. Click Apply to install.

Once installed you will find GTG in the Applications > Office menu.

Usage

When you first fire up GTG you will see the main pane pre-populated with some very helpful tasks (see Figure 1). As you can see there is a primary task (Getting Started with GTG) with six sub-tasks. If you right click any of these tasks you can choose to:

• Add a subtask.
• Edit the task.
• Schedule the task.
• Mark as done.
• Dismiss.
• Delete.
• Add a tag.

If you select Add a tag a new window will open where you can add your tag. You can add as may tags as you like (separated by commas) as well as apply those tags to subtags.

Quickadd

Right under the menu bar you will see a text area where you can quickly enter a task. All you have to do is enter the task and then hit enter. You can also quick add a task with tags by entering a task with a syntax like:

task tag:tag1,tag2,tag3

The above will add a task called “task” with tags “tag1″, “tag2″, and “tag3″.

You can also include due dates with the quick add. For this, the syntax is:

task due:date

You could even include both tags and due date with:

task tag:tag1,tag2,tag3 due:date

Plugins

As I said, GTG has a number of plugins included. You will find:

• Tomboy/Gnote
• Notification area
• Closed task remover
• Hello World
• Send task via email
• Remember the Milk
• Import from JSON
• Evolution

Figure 2

There are also a number of plugins that are listed, but are still in development and are not usable. To enable a plugin click Edit > Preferences > Plugins. You will notice that some of the plugins, when enabled, will add menu entries to GTG. One such plugin is the Evolution plugin. When you enable this you will find a new menu entry called Plugins. Click that menu and you will see an entry Synchronize with Evolution. Also, the Notification area plugin will add an icon to your notification area. That new icon allows you to quickly add a new task by instantly opening up a new task window (see Figure 2).

Final thoughts

And there you have it…another task manager tool that does a fine job of integrating into the GNOME desktop. Although this tool isn’t going to change the way you work, it will actually make your life a little bit easier.

Most users do not know that it is possible to reduce the size of the task manager beyond that point to make it usable for users with specific window size requirements.

The compact mode of the program can be activated by double-clicking the inner border of the task manager, take a look at the screenshot below to see the area.

task manager

A double-click on that border switches to ultra-compact mode which removes the tabs and menu bar in the Windows Task Manager.

windows task manager compact

That alone would not be helpful but the new mode allows to reduce the window size of the task manager further.

windows task manager

The task manager window can be reduced to an absolute minimum this way. It is possible to switch modes again by double-clicking a second time on the border. This however resizes the window to the minimum allowed size of that mode.

Do you have a tip like that? Why not share it with us in the comments?

Many Windows users do not know that it is possible to display additional information in the Windows Task Manager. The following guide gives an overview on how to enable the display of additional information in the Windows Task Manager.

Loading the Windows Task Manager

The keyboard shortcut to load the Windows Task Manager is [Ctrl][Shift][Esc]. The task manager can also be loaded by right-clicking the Windows Taskbar and selecting Start Task Manager from the menu.

Windows Processes

Although it is not the left-most tab, the Processes tab is the default tab activated when opening the Task Manager. The Processes tab provides detailed information on running processes, such as CPU and memory usage, PID and user rights, and in newer Windows versions includes a short human-readable description of the process. By default the display is filtered, a click on the button labelled “Show processes from all users” will display all running processes.

A click on View > Select Columns opens a configuration menu to add columns to the display. Most of the additional information that can be enabled in this menu is intended for developers and administrators, but end users may find it helpful as well. For instance, it is possible to display the path of running processes, which can be very helpful to identify the program that has started the process.

The Memory Peak Working Set column is another interesting column that can be enabled. It displays the maximum amount of computer memory of each process in the task manager. The configuration menu can also be used to remove columns from the display in case they are not needed or used. A recommended setting is to keep all columns that are activated by default and add the Image Path Name and Memory – Peak Working Set columns.

Networking

The Networking tab displays information about each network adapter. Most Windows users will not see much information, if any at all, when they open the tab in the Windows Task Manager. Like the Processes tab, the Networking tab can be configured to display additional information by clicking on View > Select Columns.

In addition to the total amount of data transfer, separate graphs representing Bytes Sent and Bytes Received can be enabled. The network traffic will be monitored and displayed once the selections have been made.

These just two examples of Windows Task Manager tabs that can be configured to display additional information. The rest of the Task Manager can be similarly configured as well. End users will especially benefit from the additional information in the Processes tab. What other Task Manager configuration tips do you have? Let us know in the comments.

It displays an activity list in its interface upon startup that lists the programs and their activity. The activity is usually hard disk or processor activity or both. System processes are by default hidden in the list of running programs. They can be displayed by clicking on the Also show system processes link at the top.

Selecting one of the programs in the list displays additional information about it in the lower half of the program window.

The information displayed include the name and installation directory on the hard drive, the data and tie the program was started, installed and modified, product details that include the producer’s name and copyright, security information, known problems and external links both to the producer’s website (if available) and a Google search.

The right side of the program window contains action buttons that can display the program properties, open the installation folder, terminate, close or uninstaller the program as well as send it to Kaspersky or VirusTotal to check it for malicious contents.

What’s my computer doing can be a helpful tool for analysing programs that seem to cause lots of disk or cpu activity on a computer system. Advanced users can do the same with the standard Windows Task Manager or process explorers.

What is my computer doing can be downloaded right here. (via Megaleecher)

Anvir Task Manager 6.2 is offering more than just the basic task manager functionality. This can be confusing for users as it offers security, performance, system monitoring and windows enhancement features.

The program uses a tabbed layout. The tabs are used to switch between the different options that the program provides. Available tabs are Startup, Applications, Processes, Services and Log.

Startup:

The startup tab aids the user in managing startup items. It consists of a sidebar that can be used to filter specific startup items like Internet Explorer browser helper objects or startup items found in the Windows Registry.

The left window lists the startup items. Anvir Task Manager will automatically rate each startup item and display a security risk level. These entries are also color coded to make identification even easier.

A double-click on an entry opens a footer window with extensive information about the selected startup item. This window with extra information is available in all tabs.

It is also tab based and provides extensive information including the security risks analysis, product information, dlls that are used by the entry, connections, drivers and performance information.

Applications:

The applications tab lists the running applications and their process.

Processes:

The processes tab lists all processes that are running on the system again with detailed information including the security rating. Many options are available in this tab. It is possible to kill, restart or start processes, block them from being run on the system, set a process priority or affinity, free memory and to suspend processes.

Services:

The services tab lists all know services of the computer system with information about their state, a security risk rating and additional information. Options available in this menu are to change the startup type, change the state of a service or to delete it.

Other options:

• Check files on VirusTotal.com with 30+ antivirus engines
• Delayed startup: speed up Windows startup process
• Tweaker that gives direct access to hundreds of XP / Vista settings
• Monitor processes, services, Internet connections, CPU, disk, memory, DLLs, drivers, locked files, windows
• Icons and tooltips in tray for CPU, memory, network, disk load, HDD temperature, and battery
• View download speed, upload speed, amount of transfered data per network connection and per process
• Find locked files and DLL
• Can replace Windows Task Manager

Installation:

Installation is pretty straightforward. Users should pay attention to the installation process as it will try to install another software called Registry Cleaner Pro on the system which is probably something that the user does not want.

The program will automatically start a configuration wizard after installation that can be used to configure some of the program’s features like hardware monitoring in the system tray or displaying additional control at the top of every window.

A click on Help > Enter Registration Key is necessary to complete the registration of the program. The values on the form are prefilled and a click on the OK button will register the product.

Positive

• Provides extensive information
• Security ratings
• Software and hardware monitoring

Negative

• Interface looks messy

Verdict:

Anvir Task Manager is a sophisticated task manager replacement that offers many of additional information and options. It can be downloaded for free at the Giveaway of the Day website. The developer website is available here.

The Auslogics Task Manager portable has a size of 1.66 Megabytes and divides the information in the four different sections applications, processes, services and open files. The applications and process window uses a similar interface that is listing the name of the application or process, a security rating, cpu usage, memory and disk utilization, Internet traffic and priority. The security rating is gathered from Auslogics’ own File Inspect service.

The Services view will display the running Windows services again with a security rating, category and path. Open Files will display all files that are currently open in the operating system. It will display name of the file and the application that has locked it.

Cpu usage, memory usage, disk activity and Internet traffic are displayed in graphs at the bottom. A left click on any application or process will display the utilization of that specific program or process which can be a great way of finding the resource heavy applications and processes on a system.

A right-click will open a context menu with additional options. It is for example possible to open the File Inspect website to retrieve in depth information about the selected process, application, service or file.

The file menu is providing quick access to Windows system tools like Computer Management, Control Panel or the Services manager.

Auslogics Task Manager Portable can be downloaded from the Auslogics website.

source Lee at Download Squad

The five default tabs that are available in the Windows Task Manager are offered by DTaskManager plus the two additional Ports and Kernel Modules section. The program displays extensive information in each section of its interface, something that can only be partially achieved in the Windows Task Manager. The processes tab lists for example the path of the process and the cpu time by default.

The Ports section displays all network connections of the local computer system offering massive amounts of information that include the process name, local IP and port, remote IP and port, the protocol, path and socket status.

DTaskManager offers some advanced functions on how to deal with processes. It can for example kill processes the usual way, force the process to be closed and initiate an override to close the process which will bypass permissions as well. Another interesting feature is the ability to suspend tasks. This is a feature known from the Linux operating system which can temporarily halt tasks. That’s a handy feature in situations where all system resources are needed by a process as the user can suspend processes and resume them once the resources are not needed anymore for the priority process.

A few minor options are the ability to display the cpu and memory usage in the system tray. This can be displayed as a bar or as numerical values. DTaskManager is a solid and lightweight Windows Task Manager replacement. It is compatible with Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista.

The interface of System Explorer is tab driven. It displays various information like Tasks, Processes, Modules or Opened Files in the various tabs on the top of the software program. Each tab will list the designated information, the process tab will for instance list the process names, their dependencies, cpu usage, process id and memory usage.

One of the interesting options that System Explorer provides is the ability to display or request additional information about an entry. A right-click on an entry will open a context menu with options to display file information, query Internet databases like Process Library or checking the file with online virus scanners like Virus Total.

That’s interesting for users who want to check up on processes or modules running on their computer system.

Unlike Microsoft’s Task Manager System Explorer does provide additional information. It will for example list all open connections of a computer system including the applications responsible for the connection. It will furthermore display the opened files or a process history in its interface which provide additional valuable information to the user.

Another interesting option is the snapshot ability. Users can create system snapshots and compare them to previous snapshots that they have created. This can be interesting to compare before and after system states while installing or updating software programs.

System Explorer provides access to additional system related features next to the extensive system monitoring options. It will list autostart entries, software programs that are installed on the computer system and link to system utilities like computer management or group policy management.

The software program can be used to replace the Windows Task Manager. To do that select the “Replace Task Manager” option in the Options menu on top. System Explorer will open whenever the user starts the Task Manager from then on.

Resource usage of System Explorer is low, it uses less than 5 Megabytes of computer memory while running which is acceptable considering all the advanced features that it brings to the table.

The extended Task Manager can be configured to replace the Windows Task Manager so that the default keyboard shortcut [CTRL ALT DEL] will open its interface instead. It can also be configured to run independently from the default Task Manager.

The extended Task Manager is tab driven like the original Windows Task Manager. It adds a Summary, Services, and Ports tab which can be used to access different kinds of data that are not visible in the Windows Task Manager.

The software program adds a few additional interesting options to the Task Manager. One of them is the ability to display the list of files that are locked by a process. Another option is to initiate a Google search right from the interface to get additional information about a running process.

The Ports tab will display a list of all incoming and outgoing connections including their process name, process ID, local and remote IP as well as local and remote port.

The configuration offers ways to enable additional information in the various tabs. The Port Monitoring configuration can for instance be used to add UDP port monitoring or limit the TCP ports that are monitored by the program.

The Windows Task Manager replacement uses roughly 5 Megabytes in minimized state and approximately 19 when active. The website of the software company does not contain information about the application’s compatibility. The only available information are that a 32-bit and 64-bit edition seem to exist.

It is possible to get a sneak peak as some of the coders have already posted a few applications that they are working on. One interesting application is Just Close Some Tasks by Justice. This software program is especially helpful for users who tend to open many programs and forget to close them when they are no longer needed.

Just Close Some Tasks is a portable software that will keep track of all open applications and the time they have not been active. It will automatically mark tasks for closing that have not been active for a certain period in time. The time can be defined in the program’s options, the default value is 360 seconds. The program has been programmed to learn over time and adjust the expiry time automatically to fit the user’s needs.

The software program is hotkey driven. You press the hotkey which will open the main interface which will display all open processes and the time that they have been inactive. If the inactivity time of an application is greater than the time set in the program’s option it will be checked. A click on the Close button will close all checked applications and processes at once.

The application does not check if a program is active in the background which is one of the greatest disadvantages. It will for example mark defragmentation windows as inactive even though they are running in the background.

This can be countered by excluding processes temporarily or permanently. It would make sense to add all background processes to the list permanently to prevent that they are closed accidentally.

Windows xKill is a port of the Linux xKill program to Windows. The application is fully portable and sits in the Windows Taskbar after startup. The global keyboard shortcut [CTRL ALT Backspace] will load the application and display a skull and crossbones that is following the mouse cursor. The next click on a window or application will automatically terminate the instance.

Pressing [ESC] will close the application again which can be useful for testing purposes or when the application terminated in the meantime.

The software program uses a little bit more than 4 Megabyte of computer memory while running and can be useful to terminate frozen applications faster than usual.

The Task Manager software extension changes the Applications and Processes tab in the Windows Task Manager. The Process ID is shown in the Applications tab while the major changes are visible and accessible in the Processes tab.

The default view in the Processes tab remains more or less unchanged. The only two differences are icons for every process listed and Windows system processes are grayed out to increase the visibility of non system processes.

The Task Manager software extension would be mediocre at best if those were the only changes. The majority of changes have been added to the right-click context menu. The two entries Information and Properties which display all kind of information about the selected process. Useful information include the system path, process environment variables and service information if available.

In addition to that users can view information about Files, Modules, Handles, Windows, Threads, Memory Maps and Process Security.

The Task Manager Software Extension added one additional menu to the top menu which provides access to additional information. Users can opt to view the loaded drivers, all handles and search for files and modules.