Process Explorer as an alternative to the "Task Manager" Windows

It's no secret that today you can find enough many programs and applications developed as an alternative to the "native" services and utilities of Windows operating systems. And one of them is Process Explorer. How to use this small but very effective utility will now be considered. At the same time we will make some comparison with the standard Windows tools.

What is Process Explorer?

To understand what this utility is, it is simply to translate its name from English into Russian. Have you figured it out? This is the "Task Manager".

It should be assumed that understanding the purpose of the Process Explorer utility begs for itself: it is an alternative to the standard "Task Manager", which is present in any Windows OS.

It is installed in the system quite simply and has a very small size. The Process Explorer application itself is available in two versions: the standard installed in the system (1.21 MB for the 16th version, the latest build - 3.38 MB) and portable, without the need for installation (size 1.02 MB). Which version to prefer, and whether to use it at all, will be considered a little later.

Process Explorer Rus: the main features of the program

I must say that the "native" tools of Windows are often criticized, and quite deservedly. Take the same "Task Manager". What can be done about it in terms of viewing information or managing processes? Of course, there is something there, but the information is far from complete, and its display is extremely inconvenient. In addition, in terms of working with active services, you can only use disabling or forcing them to work.

But the program Process Explorer very favorably differs from the standard tool. The fact is that all processes are represented in a tree-like hierarchical structure according to the type of folders and files in the "Explorer", and this applies to the running applications of all users of the system. For convenience, they are attached to the icons of the developers, and the services themselves, depending on the priority or some other condition, are highlighted with different colors.

Also, Process Explorer has the ability to run programs with different rights and even the ability to obtain information about a particular process directly from the Internet. But what is most interesting is the ability to view additional information, including all the accompanying components like dynamic libraries, which some program or service loads into RAM at startup or during operation. Unlike the "Controller" Windows, which can only forcefully terminate processes or disable them for later restart, this utility allows, so to speak, "freeze" any software component (even system). This is similar to how to press the pause button during music or movie playback.

Needless to say, Process Explorer version Rus has a fully Russified customizable interface with the ability to display or hide any element. So each user is free to configure the program, as they say, for themselves. And, as already clear, only this possibility of the application is not limited.

Basics of working with the program

In principle, it's quite easy to work with this application. The main plus of the standard that the portable version is that after launching a special icon appears in the system tray. As you can see, access to the application is always at hand (you do not need to use a three-finger combination or call the service with a command from the "Run" menu).

The main window of the workspace is divided into two parts: on the left is a structure of processes with reference to the "accounts" of users, on the right - a description, CPU usage, process ID, etc. Columns can be customized as desired.

There is also a lower window. It only appears if the descriptor or library mode is enabled. Accordingly, the information will correspond to the selected mode. And we are not talking about the fact that there are special tools for administering the system, monitoring the load on the processor, using RAM or disk space, and so on.

Should I use it instead of the standard Windows Task Manager?

Of course, this is not all that can be "squeezed" from the program Process Explorer. However, if you look at it globally, it seems much preferable to the standard Windows-utility. Do not believe me? Try to work with the application yourself at least once, and you will have no doubts about the choice of Process Explorer.