Troubleshoot Windows with Task Manager

By Stephen Bucaro

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

The Processes tab displays a comprehensive list of all processes currently running on your computer. This can be very useful for monitoring your system. The process tab displays information about 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 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_pages/tasklist.htm You can also learn about almost any task by using it's name as a search term in google.

If you create a similar program, you can protect yourself and your PC from numerous threats to your security and privacy.

1. Install all windows security patches for your operating system from Microsoft Update site - it's free! All that's required to keep your operating system up to date is an Internet connection.

2. Install and configure a firewall - either a hardware or software based firewall is a must! If you are using a router, it probably has firewall capabilities included. Software firewalls are available at minimal cost; one of best is free!