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The Processes Shown By Task Manager
| Have you ever opened Windows Task Manager and been completely baffled. You have been told there is probably information that could help there, but if you can't comprehend it....It's not real useful. There are tabs for Applications, Processes, Performance, Networking, and Users. For this article we'll concentrate mostly on the Application and the Processes tab.nnFirst the Applications Tab shows you what applications are running. To state a different way, each line lists a window that is open. You may have your email, a web browser, and your word processing program open. With these applications you should see three items listed. This is pretty straightforward. If you suspect one or more of the applications may be causing errors, or much worse started thinking on its own and are performing malicious acts, you can close them down. This can be done by Just right clicking on the application name from the list and press the End Task button. nnNow we tackle the Processes tab. There is a lot more to discuss on this tab. So we will begin in this article and cover more in additional articles.nnThe Processes tab lists the processes that are running on your computer. This is most likely a quite a bit longer list than the list on the Applications tab. This is because, the Processes list shows everything that is also running in the computer in addition to the applications. Many are processes necessary for the operation of the Windows operating system. Some represent the applications that are running. Applications could be represented by more than one process. Some of the processes could be programs that aren't really necessary, or perhaps in some cases, most likely not in your case, it could be a virus of some sort or something else performing potentially damaging actions with your machine.nnThe list shown on the processes tab can be sorted by any of the columns, Image Name, User Name, CPU, or Mem Usage. The columns all contain useful information that is to be discussed further.nnThe Image Name is the name of the process. Some will be readily identifiable while others will probably be a name that means absolutely nothing and does not reference the application or task that it belongs to in any way whatsoever. This is where the internet can be very useful. You can search for the process name or you can use a web site like www.findosinfo.com and search for the process name on the website. Www.FindOSInfo.com is an online library with over 100,000 Windows and application processes and components. It contains information on who authored the process, where the directory and file controlling the process is stored, and usually a lot more information about the process. It can even tell you if the process is dangerous such as it may be a virus and what to do about it.nnThe column, User Name, tells you what user told the process to begin. This tidbit of information is sometimes useful to be aware of. The process could be owned by the system, the network, or some user of the computer. The System processes are usually started by the Windows operating system. Network processes are utilized by the network to access your LAN, WAN or the internet. Many processes listed will have a user name on them. These are processes that are executing as a result of a program or task the user has initiated.nnThe CPU column shows the percentage of the capacity of the processor, the brain of the computer, that each process is using. Most processes will be at or near 0 percent. This is because they are not doing anything at the time. Processes only use CPU time when they are actively performing a task. If you click on the CPU header on the column and it will arrange the processes showing the highest percentages at the top. This is most useful to see what processes are taking up the majority of the processor time. Researching the few highest time using processes may reveal that one or more of those processes is not a necessity to the operating system or an application. nnIf you're getting Low Memory alerts you should take a look at this column and see what, if any, processes are allocating the largest amounts of memory. It may require you to reconfigure the programs that are responsible for those processes. Or, maybe you'll realize that one or more of the processes is not even required for Windows to operate properly by the operating system or the application that started it. |
About the Author
Henry A Marshall is a member of the Find OS Info team that maintains a website, http://www.findosinfo.com . The website has information on more than 100,000 processes, files, and modules used by Windows and the 1000's of applications. Henry has had several articles published on those processes. For more information on Svchost.exe please visit http://www.findosinfo.com/process-detail.html/p94732/Svchost.exe. nGet a Unique Version of this Article Article Marketing
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