Task Manager Replacement

The Windows Task Manager is great for a first quick glance at the running processes and applications but it lacks functionality that is needed as well if you need in depth information. If you wanted to check why an application or process is running you would have to check the startup settings which are not accessible in the task manager. This would mean to either look in the Windows Registry and open a system tool like msconfig or open a third party application like Autoruns from Sysinternals.

Another possible option is to replace the Windows Task Manager with a more powerful application that loads when you invoke the Ctrl-Shift-Esc keyboard shortcut. Anvir Task Manager Free is such an option. It adds much needed functionality to the Task Manager which provides you with additional information about running processes that the native task manager does not provide you with.

The interface looks a bit overloaded at first glance but it's rather easy to get used to it. The software has five main tabs: Startup, Processes, Applications, Services and Log.

If you take a closer look at the Processes tab you notice several additions. You might remember that the Windows Task Manager displays the process name and the memory used by the process.

The Anvir Task Manager displays if the process was automatically started and by which service or application, the executable file, the window name (if any) and much more. That's only the information that you receive at first glance. If you mark a process you receive additional information such as a security risk analysis, information from a startup / services database, process properties, product information and files related to that process.

As you can see the Task Manager offers a wealth of information that makes live much easier. I could go on and explain other settings but that would lead to far in my opinion. Some other useful features are a menu that displays all connections of the system with the option to kill the process responsible, writing the traffic details to a log or to close the connection.

The right-click menu offers additional information and functions. You can perform web searches, send files to Virus Total to check them for viruses and much more.

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