There are times when a process or program does not respond. The application window will remain on your desktop or residing in memory, but it just won't go away. When that happens, what do you do? In Windows, most will opt for Ctrl-Alt-Delete and then open the Task Manager. In most cases that works just fine - but there are stubborn cases when Task Manager simply won't kill a process. And what do you do about Android or Linux? Nearly every platform benefits from a solid process killer.
Process Explorer is the free and portable offering from Microsoft. Process Explorer is like the standard task manager on steroids. Java 1.6 jre download. You still get a list of processes, you still see charts of your usage, but both give you significantly more information and control over the information. Unlike the default manager, Process Explorer makes it easy to track down which file is being held by which program and get to the bottom of computer mysteries like why a certain DLL or DOC file simply cannot be deleted. It also shows which service is performing which function so you'll never look at a long and repetitive list of Windows system executables that are indistinguishable from each other—every one will be associated with its function.
If you want more than the default task manager can offer but you're not sure if you need some of the advanced featured offered by other nominees in this week's Hive Five, Extended Task Manager is a great compromise. Extended Task Manger can display locked files and which process is locking them, help you terminate specific processes to free files, provides a summary overview of your resource usage, and allows you to pause and resume processes. Note: we ended up having to test Extended Task Manager on one of our Windows XP machines after it failed to launch in Windows 7 64-bit. Whether this is a result of being launched in Windows 7 or in a 64-bit environment is unknown.
Now that you've had a chance to read over the nominees for best alternative to Windows Task Manager, it's time to cast your vote:
Which Windows Task Manager Alternative is Best?(trends)
Jan 31, 2017 If your phone is running Windows 10 Mobile and you can't monitor the performance of your device, a beautifully designed Task Manager app is available for your device. You can view system performance inf such as CPU usage, Memory usage, GPU usage, Disk transfer speed and Network transfer statistics. Task Killer will show you a list of the processes running on your system, ok, Windows also does it, but Task Killer is different, because it is really effective when stopping those processes. When it is running you'll see a tiny icon in the system tray and if you have any problem with an application, just click on that icon, you'll see the full list of processes, choose the one you want to finish and kill it. The Windows Task Manager is a functional but basic tool for keeping an eye on what your computer's up to. If you want to go beyond the built-in tool and for more in depth information and control.
Fortunately there are plenty such applications available, ready to serve and kill those tasks you don't want hanging around. I have found five go-to tools for this job. Read on and find out if any of them meet your needs.
Five Apps
1. All-in-One Toolbox
All-in-One Toolbox (Android) is one of my favorite Android tools of this nature. It's not only fully capable of getting rid of processes residing in memory, it also does a great job of clearing caches. With a simple one-touch kill process, you can kill apps in accordance to their CPU, Memory, or Battery usage. This make for a powerful management tool to keep your Android device working at optimum performance. Extra features include: Call/SMS cleaner, SDCard Cleaner, Apk Cleaner, and App Leftover cleaner. The All-in-One Toolbox Dashboard gives you plenty of at-a-glance information on your Android device and how much RAM, ROM, and SD memory is in use.
Also read:Identify and get detailed information about processes in Windows 7
2. Process Explorer
Process Explorer (Windows) is another fine tool created by Windows Sysinternals. There are plenty of reasons why Process Explorer improves on the Windows default - such as portable usage, full listing of processes, charts of usage (with significantly more information than the default applications), ability to change affinity and priority. One of my favorite features of Process Explorer is the ability to track down which file is being locked by a program. Process Explorer can also help you find out why a certain DLL or DOC file mysteriously cannot be deleted. Of all the available task manager like tools for the Windows platform, Process Explorer is, by far, the best in breed.
3. Process Hacker
Process Hacker (Windows) takes Process Explorer and tosses a handful of even more advanced features in to create a power-user's dream machine of a task manager. With this tool you can customize the tree view to show you what is currently running. You can also view very detailed statistics with graphs, close network connections, and view/edit/control services not listed in the standard process listing. The advanced features include: Viewing GDI handles and heaps, injecting and unloading DLLs, and detaching from debuggers. If you're an administrator who needs as much power at their fingertips as possible, and you want it in GUI form, you can't go wrong with Process hacker.
4. Gnome System Monitor
Gnome System Monitor (Linux) is the default GNOME tool that serves as a GUI front-end for a number of tasks. Not only does this tool forcefully or gracefully kill applications and services, it also allows you to easily change the priority of an application, check memory maps for a program or service, monitor resources (CPU, memory and swap, and network), and even get instant information on the available storage on any mounted device and a tree view on process dependencies. Unlike having to use the command line tools (such as kill and killall), the Gnome System Monitor is a point and click solution to ending processes on a Linux system.
5. Extended Task Manager
Extended Task Manager (Windows) takes the built-in Task Manager and adds a few, much-needed, features. You'll find a new Disk I/O chart which allows you to monitor which applications currently utilize most of your disk as well as more information about disk activity and network port usage. For those that find locked files a nuisance, Extended Task Manager allows you to locate a Windows process that has a specific file locked. With this information you can then close that process to remove the lock file (which has the added effect of allowing you to more easily stop processes/applications held hostage by lock files). The Extended Task Manager Summary tab gives you a quick view of the overall state of your Windows system.
You might find that, when running Extended Task Manager on Windows 7 you get ETML -9 errors. If that happens, run the application in Compatibility mode for Windows XP and all will be fine.
Bottom line
There is no reason why you need to be put into a stranglehold by your system processes and applications. With the help of one of these applications, you can take control of your system and make sure it is not only running reliably, but running with optimal performance. Grab one of these tools and see if they don't give you the power to contain runaway and stubborn processes.
Also read:
The Windows Task Manager is a functional but basic tool for keeping an eye on what your computer's up to. If you want to go beyond the built-in tool and for more in depth information and control, check out these five alternatives.
Task Killer App Windows
Last week we asked you to share your favorite alternative to the Windows Task Manager, and now we're back with the five most popular nominees. Read over each entry, then don't forget to cast a vote for your favorite of the top five in the poll below.
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Best Windows Task Manager Alternative?
A task manager can do so much more than just beat unruly applications into submission. The default…
Read more Advanced Task Killer App
ReadNote: Clicking on the screenshots below will enlarge the screenshots to their original size.
Process Hacker (Windows, Free)
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Process Hacker is the only open-source offering in today's Hive. When using Process Hacker you're not just able to view your applications and services in more detail but to interact with them in a variety of ways—many well beyond the scope of the standard task manager, like hex editing the contents of a process' virtual memory. Process Hacker allows you to alter process security levels, terminate, suspend, resume, and restart them. For those 'What is this?' moments, you can right click to search online for the identity of a given process and what it might be up to.
Anvir Task Manager (Windows, Basic: Free, Premium: $39.95)
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Anvir Task Manger is available in a range of editions ranging in cost from free to $89.95 for a full security suite. The free edition, however, has quite an array of features that make it more than satisfactory as an alternative to the default Windows tool. From within Anvir Task Manger you can manage your startup applications and delay their startup to improve your boot time, and check processes against a virus database. In addition to common features like the ability to alter the priority of a process you can also right click on any process and hide the window it is running in within the system tray. Although you have to install it to unpack it, once installed you can turn Anvir Task Manager into a portable application.
Process Explorer (Windows, Free)
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Process Explorer is the free and portable offering from Microsoft. Process Explorer is like the standard task manager on steroids. Java 1.6 jre download. You still get a list of processes, you still see charts of your usage, but both give you significantly more information and control over the information. Unlike the default manager, Process Explorer makes it easy to track down which file is being held by which program and get to the bottom of computer mysteries like why a certain DLL or DOC file simply cannot be deleted. It also shows which service is performing which function so you'll never look at a long and repetitive list of Windows system executables that are indistinguishable from each other—every one will be associated with its function.
Extended Task Manager (Windows, Free)
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If you want more than the default task manager can offer but you're not sure if you need some of the advanced featured offered by other nominees in this week's Hive Five, Extended Task Manager is a great compromise. Extended Task Manger can display locked files and which process is locking them, help you terminate specific processes to free files, provides a summary overview of your resource usage, and allows you to pause and resume processes. Note: we ended up having to test Extended Task Manager on one of our Windows XP machines after it failed to launch in Windows 7 64-bit. Whether this is a result of being launched in Windows 7 or in a 64-bit environment is unknown.
System Explorer (Windows, Free)
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System Explorer lives up to its name by not only allowing you to explore system processes, but which applications autorun on startup, system add-ons, drivers, services, and more. It doesn't have the most elegant interface we've seen so far, but it does pack in an enormous amount of information and functionality. You can manipulate processes, search for additional information online, check them against virus databases, and hunt down which process is locking which file or causing system instability.
Now that you've had a chance to read over the nominees for best alternative to Windows Task Manager, it's time to cast your vote:
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Which Windows Task Manager Alternative is Best?(trends)
Can't believe your favorite didn't make it? Shocked you've been using the default task manager for so long? Sound off in the comments below.
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