This tool helps you see all the programs (also called processes) running on your computer and shows you detailed information about them.
The list of programs offers the following information:
| Process name | The name of the process, as stated by the process itself. |
| PID | Process ID. This is a number that Windows assigns the process while it is running. If you know the process ID, you can use some other utilities to manipulate the process. |
| Service | States whether a process is a Windows service or not. A Windows service is a special type of program which runs when Windows starts, even if no user is logged it. A process is usually not allowed to interact with the user. |
| Rating | This is a probable danger rating that Advanced
Task Manager calculates for each program. A high
red rating indicates that a program may be unsafe. A high
green rating indicates that a process is
probably safe. If a program has several characteristics similar to the spyware programs, then it will have a high red rating. This does not mean that a program is spyware or a virus - it means only that you should take a closer look at it. |
| Size | The size that the .EXE file of the program. A small .EXE file can load a lot of .DLLs and use a lot of memory for storing data, so the fact that an .EXE file is small on disk doesn't mean it doesn't use a lot of memory when running. |
| Memory | The amount of memory taken by the program. |
| CPU | The percentage of CPU time used at a certain moment. A program that at the moment does nothing (such as Microsoft Word waiting for you to type something) uses 0% of the CPU, while a program that is very busy processing data will use 100%. |
| Active | The amount of time that the program was actually running (using the computer's CPU). A program can run for hours, but be idle most of the time, because it is waiting for user input. Such programs usually have low active times. |
| File name | The file name of the program. |
| Folder | The folder where the file of the program is located. |
Bellow the list of programs there is a panel which shows details about the program you select. It contains:
| Details | Detailed information about the program. |
| Rating | The different characteristics of the program, and how they affect the program's probable danger rating. |
| Text found in exe file | The text found in the .EXE file. The messages in the program often appear there. |
The toolbar above the list of programs contains several buttons which help you work with tasks:
End Task - terminates the process you have selected.
Quarantine - terminates the process you have selected and renames the .EXE file so it can't get executed again. The exe file is put on a list of quarantined files.
Restore Quarantined Files - shows a window in which you can rename the quarantined EXE files back to their original names.
Uninstall - if the program you select in the list of programs has an uninstaller, this button runs it. If the program doesn't have an uninstaller, this button is disabled. You can get better uninstalling capabilities by using Advanced Uninstaller PRO from http://www.innovative-sol.com/uninstaller
DLL - this button shows you the list of .DLL files that the program you selected uses.
Google - perform a Google search for the program's file name, to find out more information about it.
Report - shows you information about the program you selected. The information is text, so you can copy/paste it to a forum and ask other people about it.