Troubleshoot Windows with Task Manager

Task Manager is a Windows system utility that displays the
tasks or processes currently running on your computer. To
open Task Manager, press Ctrl+Alt+Del. The Applcations tab
lists the applications currently running on your computer.
A single application may actually consist of several running
processes, and many programs that run in the background are
not listed (you can see icons for some of these programs in
the System Tray).

Note: With Windows 98 and Windows Me, Ctrl+Alt+Del will
open Program Manager, which allows you only to close
aplications. However, you can download one of the many Task
Manager utilities from the Web.

The Processes tab displays a comprehensive list of all the
processes currently running on your computer. This can be
very useful for monitoring your system. The process tab
displays information about the processor useage and memory
usage of each process. The problem is, how to identify a
process. Below is a list of some processes you may see in
Task Managers Processes list.

"System Idle Process"
"System" The Windows System Process
"SMSS.EXE" Session Manager Subsystem
"CSRSS.EXE" Client Server Runtime Subsystem
"WinLOGON.EXE" The Windows Logon process
"SERVICES.EXE" Services Control Manager
"LSASS.EXE" Local Security Authentication Server Service
"svchost.exe" Service Host
"spoolsv.exe" The print spooler service
"explorer.exe" Windows Explorer
"TASKMGR.EXE" The Task Manager
"regsvc.exe" Remote Registry Service

"System Idle Process" is basically another name for the
time when Windows is doing nothing. There are hundreds of
thousands of processes that run on a computer, so you will
definitely find names of many other processess that are
not listed above. For a list of well known processes,
visit www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_p ages/tasklist.htm
You can also learn about almost any task by using it's
name as a search term in google.

Task Manager can also be used to tweak your system if it's
running slow. The Performance tab displays running graphs
of your computers CPU and memory usage. If the CPU usage
seems to be running over 80 percent most of the time, or if
the memory usage seems to be running higher than the total
physical memory, you may want to shut down some
applications or processes.

On the Process tab, you can identify processes that are
consuming a lot of processor time. Click twice on the CPU
column heading to sort the CPU column so the processes
hogging the most CPU time on top. You can sort the
"Mem Usage" column the same way.

On the Application tab, if you right click on the name of
an application and, in the popup menu that appears, choose
"Go To Process", Task Manager will open the Processes tab
and highlight the process that runs the application. On the
Processes tab, if you right-click on the name of a process,
you can choose "SetPriority" and promote the priority of
the process you need (or demote the priority of a different
process to free up some resources).

If you go to the Application tab and shut down an
application, you will shut down any processes related to
that application. Or, you might choose to shut down a
background process that you can identify. To shut down an
application or process, click on it's name in the list to
highlight it, then click on the End Task button.

On the Processes tab, if you right click on the name of a
process, you can choose "End Process Tree" to kill the
process and any sub-processes started by the process.

Task Manager can also be used for troubleshooting. If an
application freezes up, you can open Task Manager and shut
down the application. If the entire system freezes up, you
can use Task Manager to shut down a process that is hogging
all the CPU time or memory.

If you spend some time monitoring your computer with task
Manager, eventually you will become familiar with the
processes that commonly run. Then, when you see an
unfamiliar process, you can do a little investigation to
make sure it's not a virus. For example, if you see
msblast.exe in the process list, your computer is infected
with the Blaster virus. You might be able to detect and
eliminate a new virus before an antivirus update is available.

----------------------------------------------------------
Resource Box:
Copyright(C)2004 Bucaro TecHelp. To learn how to maintain
your computer and use it more effectively to design a Web
site and make money on the Web visit bucarotechelp.com
To subscribe to Bucaro TecHelp Newsletter Send a blank
email to subscribe@bucarotechelp.com
----------------------- -----------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------
Permission is granted for the below article to forward,
reprint, distribute, use for ezine, newsletter, website,
offer as free bonus or part of a product for sale as long
as no changes are made and the byline, copyright, and the
resource box below is included.
----------------------------------------------------------

To learn how to maintain your computer and use it more effectively to design a Web site and make money on the Web visit bucarotechelp.com To subscribe to Bucaro TecHelp Newsletter Send a blank email to subscribe@bucarotechelp.com

---

Database Guru James F. Koopmann Reviews DBxtra Reporting and Query Tool

DBxtra is a powerful query and reporting tool that hides... Read More

Reporting Tools for Microsoft Great Plains ? Overview For Developers

Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more and more popular,... Read More

Review of TikiWiki Content Management System

TikiWiki is open source software - it is written in... Read More

Free Preventive Maintenance Software

While several preventive maintenance software manufacturers offer free trials for... Read More

eConnect: eCommerce Development for Microsoft Great Plains

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains has several options to enable... Read More

Microsoft Business Solutions Customization Options - Overview for Programmer

Several years ago Microsoft purchased Great Plains Software, then Navision... Read More

Put Some Pizazz in Your Software Arsenal

The software giants don't do everything and don't always produce... Read More

Explore the Internet in a Whole New Way

For a long time now Microsoft's Internet Explorer has ruled... Read More

Microsoft Moves to Small Business Accounting/Retail Market ? Stakes and Thoughts

In this small article we will be looking at the... Read More

Great Plains Dynamics on Pervasive/Ctree support ? overview for consultant

All of us know that Microsoft bought former Great Plains... Read More

Groupware Finds Home in American Business: Collaboration Tool Analysis

What is Groupware?Have you ever had to manage document collaboration... Read More

Pros and Cons of Using FREE Software in Your Business

Itâ??s easy to understand why you might be drawn to... Read More

Making The Decision To Automate Your Software Testing

Not every software testing project can or should be automated.... Read More

Microsoft CRM Development

Microsoft CRM is CRM answer from Microsoft Business Solutions.The whole... Read More

Internet Relay Chat - A Basic Introduction

What is IRC?IRC is Internet Relay Chat. It is a... Read More

Microsoft CRM Conversation Gateway: VoIP - Implementation & Customization

Microsoft CRM is winning market share step-by-step from such the... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Project Accounting ? Overview For IT Director/Controller

Microsoft Business Solutions is now in process of creating so... Read More

Kick-Ass Performance For Your PC? Its Easy

Is your PC is slow and wimpy? Then you need... Read More

How to Build a Basic CSS Layout

Designing without tables by using CSS layouts is fast becoming... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Integration Manager ? Working With Text File

Microsoft Business Solutions main middle market ERP application - Microsoft... Read More

Adware and Spyware

What is 'adware'?Adware is basically software or scripts that are... Read More

Helping Newbies Understand Professional Software

The Windows registry is a huge database that ensures normal... Read More

The Religion And Philosophy Of Small Internet Business

I have always had a tendency to focus on the... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Data Conversion ? Overview For Developer

Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more and more popular,... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Payroll Module Customization Scenarios

It is now common thing when large corporation selects mid-market... Read More

You Can Write Microsoft Office Program in About 60 Minutes

Microsoft Office program is a programming tool called Visual Basic... Read More

Two Reasons to Use Timesheet Software

This short paper will expand on two key reasons to... Read More

Examining the Substance of Studio MX

To all web designers out there, this article is for... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains POP: Purchase Order Processing ? Overview For Consultants

Great Plains Purchase Order Processing (POP) module makes up one-third... Read More

Basic Steps To Optimize Your Internet Security

After seeing many people complain about their weak Internet security... Read More

The Opera Alternative

Security flaws have long plagued Internet Explorer (IE), the market-dominating... Read More

What is Preventive Maintenance Software?

Preventive Maintenance (PM) is defined as scheduled work done on... Read More

Resume Software ? Advantages Revealed

The various resume software offered, particularly on the internet, can... Read More