How To Check What's Running In The Background Windows 7

Windows task manager: Viewing Windows 7 processes and applications

If applications or processes in a customer'south Windows 7 operating system aren't responding, you lot tin can employ the task manager to view, end and restart them.

Solutions provider takeaway: You can use the task manager to view Windows seven applications and processes, and you can also stop and restart them if they're unresponsive. The task manager has six tabs in all, including the operation tab that displays usage graphs.

Job Director

Task Manager, for many of u.s.a., is our "go-to" tool for solving problems. You lot take a problem, you lot go to Chore Director—it's almost ingrained in us. Yous'll meet immediate data almost your processes, CPU usage, memory, network, and so forth.

For i affair, the starting time time you get-go Task Director, you lot'll notice that you can at present choose to see processes from all the users of the organization. 1 affair you'll notice correct away is the Clarification aspect to the Processes tab and the Services tab (see Figure 11.viii). This was added in Vista.

One of the new features of Job Manager is the power to create a mini-dump file of an application that is running. Y'all can correct-click an application or procedure that is running and choose Create Dump File, which displays a dialog box that shows yous where that file has been written. You can use this feature to discover why a particular application might exist crashing and so frequently. Or if a procedure has already crashed and is no longer responding, you tin can try to discover the cause.

Figure 11.8 Chore Director showing the descriptions and options for Services.

Job Director has 6 tabs:

Applications
Processes
Services
Performance
Networking
Users

In addition to the tabs, there is a carte at the top that serves up even more options that we'll besides embrace in the post-obit section. Let's starting time by looking at the Applications tab.

Applications

This is the starting bespeak for Windows Task Manager and at that place is more than here than meets the eye. The Chore cavalcade displays a list of open applications. This is a live look at your arrangement. If yous shut one of the applications, it removes itself from this list.

The Status column shows whether the awarding is Running or Not Responding. This unproblematic layout allows y'all to apace see what application is interim upward. At the bottom are iii buttons:

End Task: Closes an application or process.
Switch To: Switches between applications or processes.
New Task: Starts an application from the dialog box that opens when you click this push button.

Below these buttons are real-time information regarding Processes, CPU Usage, and the amount of used Physical Memory. At a glance, y'all tin see what resources is affected by this view in the Task Managing director.

Using Task Manager to Stop an Application

The following steps show you how to apply Task Managing director to end an application.

Press Ctrl+Alt+Del.
Click Start Task Managing director.
In the Task surface area, locate an application that is running and click it.
Click the End Task button.

With this elementary procedure, yous see how piece of cake it is to shut an application. Of course, the purpose of Task Managing director is to assistance you troubleshoot and cope with crashed applications, not ones that are working fine. Then the next time an application hangs likewise long, follow the above steps once more. When an application hangs too long, the Status cavalcade shows Not Responding. Clicking End Chore should close the awarding.

On rare occasion, an awarding might stubbornly stay open despite your attempts to end it. In this state of affairs, press Ctrl+Alt+Del over again and repeat the steps to close it.

Using Task Director to Start an Application

The post-obit steps show yous how to use Task Director to beginning an application. In this example, you learn to cease explorer.exe and restart it through Task Manager.

Press Ctrl+Alt+Del.
Click Start Task Manager.
Click the Processes tab.
In the Paradigm Name column, locate explorer.exe.
Click the Cease Procedure push button. Windows Explorer closes but all other applications, including Task Manager, remain open up.
Click the Applications tab.
Click the New Task button. The Create New Job dialog box opens.
In the Open text box, type explorer.
Click OK. Windows Explorer opens.

The Create New Job button comes in handy in situations that call for you to reopen an application. If you know the path to the application, you can enter information technology; otherwise, yous can click the Browse button to navigate to the application name.

One other pick to mention on the Applications tab appears when you lot correct-click any application. You volition observe Create Dump File. Dump files capture information from the awarding that you tin can share with software developers and programmers who are trying to determine why an application crashes or has other faults. The dump file is saved locally and is a copy of what the application looks like in memory. You tin send it to your help and back up department, which tin can analyze its contents.

Processes

This tab gives yous a bird's-middle view of all your processes, including a push button to Show Processes from all Users and the aforementioned End Process push. The Process tab is invaluable if your reckoner is running boring for an undetermined reason. By viewing the Image Name, CPU, Retentiveness, and Description columns, you can focus on the precise area causing trouble.

Using Task Manager to Monitor an Application'due south CPU and Memory Usage

The post-obit steps evidence you how to monitor an application'due south CPU and retentiveness usage. In this case, you monitor Windows Media Histrion.

Press Ctrl+Alt+Del.
Click Outset Task Managing director.
Click the Processes tab.
While still keeping the Task Managing director in view on-screen, open up Windows Media Player. As the awarding opens, scout the CPU and Memory columns for the information it displays for Windows Media Player. (Y'all may need to resize the column to see the heading names.)
Close Windows Media Player.
Open other applications and monitor their resource usage through the processes tab.

By viewing your procedure resource usage, it becomes evident very quickly which process is causing the problem. If you are looking for a specific procedure and you accept several open, click Prototype Name to sort the column.

If a procedure is causing problem, it can exist stopped by using the Processes tab—as you larn in the post-obit section.

Using Task Manager to End a Process

This brusk do teaches y'all how to end a process through Job Director. Use caution when doing this on applications not discussed in this exercise. Non ending a process safely can upshot in data loss or in rare cases, system instability.

Press Ctrl+Alt+Del.
Click Showtime Task Manager.
Click the Processes tab.
Look at the Description cavalcade and select a process that you know (for example, select Windows Chore Director).
Click the End Procedure button. You are asked to confirm this.
Click End Process again. The process ends.

A quick way to detect a process associated with an application is to first locate the app on the Applications tab, right-click it, and then cull Go To Process. This takes you to the Processes tab with the associated process highlighted.

If more than than i user is logged-on to your automobile when you run Chore Director and yous are unable to see the process you are looking for, the Processes tab includes a Show Processes From All Users button that you tin can click to see any processes in use by other users logged on.

You can also right-click an application and choose Backdrop to access the properties of that particular executable. For example, you lot tin can change compatibility options, permissions, as well every bit other aspects of the plan.

Services

This tab shows you lot your services, some descriptive information regarding them (Description and Group information), and if they are running or not. You can use this tab to stop or start services.

Using Chore Manager to Terminate and Restart a Service

The following steps bear witness you lot how to stop and restart a service through Job Manager.

Press Ctrl+Alt+Del.
Click Start Job Managing director.
Click the Services tab.
In the Description column, curl down to Print Spooler, right-click it, and choose Finish Service.
Depending on your security configuration, you might receive an access-denied bulletin. If this is the case, click Impress Spooler again.
Click the Services button in the lower right.
If a UAC window opens, click Yes.
In the main pane, ringlet down to Print Spooler, right-click it, and cull Stop.
To restart the service, follow these same steps, only when you right-click Impress Spooler, and choose Start instead.

Performance

This tab includes a characteristic that is new to Windows 7 (although y'all might non notice it). Under Concrete Memory (MB) grouping, Vista features Total, Cached, and Complimentary. Windows 7 has added Available to that group.

Full: The corporeality of RAM installed on the organisation in MB.
Cached: The corporeality of physical RAM used for system resources.
Available: The total of standby and free memory for programs.
Free: The amount of memory that is currently unused or doesn't contain useful information.

The Performance tab also includes the Resource Monitor push. This is a logical location since you lot might be coming to the Performance tab to troubleshoot a problem. Y'all can usually find what y'all are looking for in the CPU and Retentiveness Usage graphs (see Figure 11.9). If yous can't observe it there, click the Resource Monitor button to access a plethora of monitoring tools.

Figure 11.9 Get real-fourth dimension stats in the Functioning tab.

Networking

The Networking tab shows a graph of your agile network connection, where yous tin can view the network utilization of your connections. The bottom of this tab also includes columns showing the Link Speed and the connection Country.

Users

This tab shows you the users who are logged on now. By right-clicking a user, yous tin Disconnect a user who is remotely continued to your reckoner or Log Off a local user.

Using Job Manager to Log-Off a Local User

The following steps show you how to log-off a local user through Task Manager. To complete this exercise, yous will need multiple users logged-on at once.

Press Ctrl+Alt+Del.
Click Start Chore Director.
Click the Users tab.
Correct-click the User you would like to log off and choose Log Off.
A warning message appears, asking you to ostend that you want to log off this user (because the user'southward unsaved data might be lost). Click Log Off User and the user is logged off.

Bill of fare Items

There are a few notable selections bachelor on the Task Manager menu:

On the File menu, you can select New Task to open a plan (just as you tin can by using the Applications tab).
On the View carte, you can adjust the refresh speed of the monitoring of your incoming resources. To run into faster refreshes on your incoming information for CPU and Memory, go to View, click Update Speed, and then choose High.

Managing and Monitoring Windows seven
Using the reliability and resource monitor in Windows 7
Using Windows 7 performance monitor to view data
Windows task director: Viewing Windows 7 processes and applications
Using system properties to configure Windows seven options

Printed with permission from Que Publishing. Copyright 2010. Using Microsoft Windows 7 by J. Peter Bruzzese. For more data about this championship and other similar books, please visit http://world wide web.quepublishing.com.