Process Explorer

Download process explorer
Simple and Easy to understand GUI, Detailed info and statistics of processes, Can be used to debug software, can track unauthorized or hidden processes, Freeware.

The Process Explorer from Microsoft (yes, you read that right) has been available on their website for ages. It shows you information about which handles (instance of a program) and DLLs' processes have been opened and are loaded or running in the memory. In a nut shell, it's kinda a next level of the Task Manager.

Process Explorer gives you detailed information of a process; that includes its icon, command-line, full image path, memory statistics, user account, security attributes and more geeky mumbo jumbo. If required you can see the DLLs that a process has loaded or check what OS resource it uses.

A search feature allows you to track down a process right down to the last resource it is using (a file, registry key, etc) or you may also opt to view only a list of processes that have a DLL loaded.

Features

We used the Process Explorer v10.21 and will talk in detail about the same. Let's move ahead to geekier stuff and see what features are provided by the application.

- Service permissions viewing and editing
- Workaround for .NET runtime handle leak
- Many new I/O columns and process properties
- System and per-process I/O bytes history graphs
- I/O history minigraph
- Signed driver for 64-bit Vista for x64 processors
- Memory commit history minigraph
- Optional I/O history tray icon
- Windows 64-bit for Itanium support

Some features are pertaining to Vista. They are,

- Vista integrity level and virtualized columns and process properties
- Vista process cycle counters in process properties and as column

The System Information icon gives you details about the total number of handles, threads, physical and kernel memory, paging and statistics on CPU and I/O as well as the Commit Charge.

Apart from these features, Power Explorer gives you a lot of room for customization as well.

You can configure symbols, highlighting of selected processes, organize columns, update speeds and a lot more.