It is no secret that today you can find quite a lot of 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 standard Windows tools.
What is Process Explorer?
To understand what this utility is, you just need to translate its name from English into Russian. Have you realized? This is the "Task Manager."
It must be assumed that understanding the purpose of the Process Explorer utility is obvious: it is an alternative to the standard "Task Manager", which is present in any Windows OS.
It is installed into the system quite simply and has a very small size. The Process Explorer application itself is available in two versions: the standard one installed in the system (size 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: main features of the program
I must say that the "native" means of Windows are often criticized, and very deservedly. Take the same "Task Manager". What special can be done in terms of viewing information or managing processes? Of course, there is still something there, but the information is far from complete, and its display is extremely inconvenient. In addition, in the plan for working with active services, you can only use the shutdown or forced shutdown of their work.
But the program Process Explorer is very favorably different from the standard tool. The fact is that all processes are presented in a hierarchical tree structure according to the way folders and files are displayed in the "Explorer", and this applies to running applications of all users of the system. For convenience, developer icons are attached to them, and the services themselves, depending on the priority or some other condition, are highlighted in 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 the most interesting thing is the ability to view additional information, including all related components, such as dynamic libraries, which some program or service loads into RAM at startup or during operation. Unlike the “Dispatcher” Windows, which can only forcefully terminate processes or disable them for subsequent restart, this utility allows you to “freeze” any software component (even the system one), so to speak. This is similar to how to press the pause button while playing music or a movie.
Needless to say, the Process Explorer application version Rus has a fully Russified customizable interface with the ability to display or hide any element. So each user is free to customize the program, as they say, for themselves. And, as already understood, the application’s capabilities are not limited to this.
Program Basics
In principle, working with this application is quite simple. The main plus of the standard, portable version is that after launching a special icon appears in the system tray. As already clear, access to the application is always at hand (you do not need to use the three-finger combination or call the service with the command from the Run menu).
The main window of the workspace is divided into two parts: the structure of the processes is displayed on the left with reference to the "user accounts", on the right is the description, CPU usage, process ID, etc. Columns can be configured as you like.
There is still a lower window. It appears only when 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, etc.
Should I use it instead of the standard Windows Task Manager?
Of course, this is far from all that you can “squeeze” out of Process Explorer. However, if you look at it globally, it seems much more preferable than the standard Windows utility. Do not believe? Try to work with the application yourself at least once, and you will have no doubt about choosing Process Explorer.