Better than Task Manager

Usually we use Windows' stock Task Manager to look at the processes running on Windows. And for Win7 user, you can also open Resource Monitor (from Performance tab on Task Manager) to see additional stuffs such as disk access by which software and network utilization on another windows. What I going to introduce is a software that have everything in one windows with much more information for you to check out. Read more after the jump......


Introducing System Explorer.

As you can see from the picture above, beside the tasks/applications/processes/services/perfomance/networking that can be display by the Windows' stock Task Manager, there are additional stuffs can be display in the same windows:

• Modules
  
• Drivers
  
• Connections (which apps that are accessing the network at the moment)
  
• Startups (programs that being executed during start up)
  
• It even display the addons installed on your IE, without open up IE
  
• DLLs that connected to Explorer.exe
  
• Uninstaller and it can point you to the registry where the installed program
  
• History of which process running with what PID numbers, nice!
  
• Backup function by creating snapshot of files or registry or both.
  

When minimizing it, it will shrink to notification area and show CPU, memory and power information whenever you point the mouse to the icon.

To get this software, go to here
Or direct download installer here
Or direct download portable version here. (YEAH!)


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Source: I wrote this post, http://systemexplorer.net/ wrote the software

Task Manager using MS Excel

MS Excel can do lots of amazing things beside drawing beautiful charts. Didier Stevens wrote a macro script to make excel become a Task Manager.



After download the zip file, unzip the file and open it with MS Excel. Depend on your excel setting, but usually it will have a security warning saying "Macros have been disabled". You have to turn the macro on, otherwise nothing will happen when you press any of the button on this excel file. To enable this macro, click the "Options" button next to the "Macros have been disabled" msg, another windows pop-up and give two options, select "Enable this content" and click OK.

Click "List processes" button, and you can start to see the macro listed out the processes running on your laptop/computer.

I like the suspend and resume function, because I use suspend and resume processes a lot on UNIX/LINUX. It is good when you want to debug something and/or just the the process to stop for a while but you don't want to kill it. Of course we can change the priority using the default task manager that come with windows, but sometime it if not effective.

To suspend a process, put a "s" on Command column next to the process and then click "Execute commands". To resume back a suspended process, put a "r" on the same box and then click "Execute commands" again.

Download version 0.3 here:
http://blog.didierstevens.com/2011/03/01/update-taskmanager-xls-version-0-0-3/



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Source and picture source: didierstevens.com