# Process Explorer: a good alternative to Task Manager



## tomdkat (May 6, 2006)

I haven't tried Process Explorer yet but it looks good. Have you used it? If so, what do you think of it?

Peace...


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## Mr. Newton (Aug 26, 2006)

I use it frequently,nothing but good things to say about it.Have been using it for a couple of years .Well worth trying.


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## tomdkat (May 6, 2006)

Cool! Does it actually replace Task Manager or is it just a utility you run on demand?

Peace...


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## WhitPhil (Oct 4, 2000)

One of it's options is to replace TaskManager, but that is a bit of overkill unless you are doing some serious debugging.

Taskmanager presents a quick and "simple" view of things, and Process Explorer is a good tool to keep in the kit and run it as required.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Process Explorer is much better than Task Manager for detailed analysis, but I agree with *WhitPhil*, it's overkill as a general replacement.

I've used it to successfully troubleshoot some tricky driver interrupt issues and it was invaluable.


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## Mr. Newton (Aug 26, 2006)

WhitPhil said:


> One of it's options is to replace TaskManager, but that is a bit of overkill unless you are doing some serious debugging.
> 
> Taskmanager presents a quick and "simple" view of things, and Process Explorer is a good tool to keep in the kit and run it as required.


I totally agree.I do keep it in my "kit" of tools.


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## John Burns (Jul 29, 1999)

I use and like Process Explorer. However, one thing to note - if you use Microsoft Windows Defender, it doesn't recognize Process Explorer. You will have an Event Viewer System Warning Message (3004) each time Process Explorer loads. I questioned System Internals Forums and found this is "normal".


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

I dropped Windows Defender a long time ago for better spyware protection.


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## John Burns (Jul 29, 1999)

JohnWill - I would be interested in which ones you think are better. 

I presently use, besides Windows Defender:

Spybot S&D
Spyware Blaster
SpywareGuard
SuperAntiSpyware
Lavasoft AdAware
A-Squared 
AVG Anti-Spyware (Formerly Ewido, I believe)
What ones am I missing?


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## Mr. Newton (Aug 26, 2006)

John Burns,,you use eight ,I use one .Been using it for two years now,works great,no problems,runs quietly in the background,small footprint.
http://www.eeye.com/html/products/blink/index.html


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Well, I use SuperAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, they've always done the job for me.


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## John Burns (Jul 29, 1999)

Thanks, JohnWill and Mr. Newton for the responses. I guess I am too much of a "cheapskate", but I don't like to pay for programs.

I guess because I have three home pc'd (two desktops and a laptop) which I like to keep uniform with security programs.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

John Burns said:


> Thanks, JohnWill and Mr. Newton for the responses. I guess I am too much of a "cheapskate", but I don't like to pay for programs.
> 
> I guess because I have three home pc'd (two desktops and a laptop) which I like to keep uniform with security programs.


Both of the programs I mentioned are free.


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## Kenny94 (Dec 16, 2004)

Process Explorer is a Task Manager on steroids...


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## Kenny94 (Dec 16, 2004)

Process Explorer was use back several years ago to Kill a malware Process for removal. Because Task Manager or HJT (Killing a Running Process part) was not strong enough. Now with ComboFix and other malware tools... Process Explorer is not use as much anymore..


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

I use it for debugging I/O issues, it was great to track down the reason for excessive CPU usage, turned out to be a serial card driver throwing continuous interrupts. Task Manager didn't point me to anything.


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