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Like most modern operating systems, Windows
can run many programs at the same time. Still, unless your
computer has several processors, it can only perform one task at a
time. To solve this problem Windows switches rapidly between all
running programs, creating the illusion of all programs running in
parallel. If you have ever experienced a crash, however, you
probably know that as soon as the switching stops working, all
programs simply stop working. This is because the processor gets
locked up in one process and stays there.
What is a
Process?
While the word "program" refers to the executable
code (the exe file, for example), a process is a program that is
being executed. When you start a program in Windows, the
executable will be loaded into RAM. Windows will then add the new
process to its internal process list and make sure the process
receives some CPU time as well as memory and other resources. A
process can then request any amount of resources from Windows as
long as there are resources left. Windows keeps track of which
processes are using which resources. As soon as a process is
closed or terminated, all resources used by that process will be
returned to Windows and will then be handed out to other
processes. Unlike memory and similar resources, CPU time cannot
simply be requested but is instead shared equally between
processes. A process can also return the CPU to Windows before the
assigned time slice ends. This is actually what happens most of
the time and is the reason why your CPU usage is not always at 100
%.
Terminating Processes to Free Up Resources
Whenever a process is terminated by the user, all resources used
by that process will be released and become available to other
processes. If you are running ten processes on your system, each
process might get only 10% of the total hardware resources. If you
have a 1 GHz processor and 64 MB RAM, for example, each process
might get CPU and memory resources corresponding to a 100 MHz CPU
and 6.4 MB of RAM. This example is, of course, greatly simplified,
and in reality some processes use many more resources than others.
Still, because many users are running 50 processes or more, the
amount of resources available to a game or an mp3 player can be
considerably smaller than the total hardware resources. What can
we do about this problem? As it turns out, there is actually a
rather simple solution. Terminate!
Using the Windows
Task Manager
If you are lucky enough to be running Windows
2000 or Windows XP, terminating processes can be done with the
built-in Task Manager. Although you can only terminate one process
at a time and have to guess which processes are important and
which ones are just wasting resources, the Windows 2000 Task
Manager allows you to terminate almost all processes including the
invisible ones running in the background. If you are running
Windows 98 or Me, however, the CTRL + ALT + DEL screen will only
list visible processes; and terminating then often takes minutes.
What you really need for this strategy to be efficient is a new
Task Manager.
Replacing The Windows Task Manager
WinTasks from LIUtilities is an easy-to-use task manager that
replaces the built-in Task Managers in both Windows 98 and Windows
2000 or XP. Instead of listing processes with the names
iexplore.exe, msimn.exe or explorer.exe, WinTasks shows processes
with their real names like Internet Explorer, Outlook Express or
Program Manager. Not only will this help you decide which
processes can be terminated safely, but it will also help you
identify unwanted background processes quickly and easily.
WinTasks also includes detailed descriptions of all common Windows
processes, making it easier than ever before to clean up your
system and optimize the use of valuable hardware resources. Apart
from user-friendly names and descriptions, WinTasks shows you in
real time how your resources are being used and can help you find
and eliminate resources problems within seconds. The built-in
process statistics and process scripting language can also be used
to automatically optimize your system for maximum performance. How
about a script that automatically terminates unnecessary processes
and frees up resources whenever a demanding application is
started? Thanks to the detailed process statistics and logs, you
can even go back and inspect the resource usage on your computer
during the last 24 hours.
Continue to WinTasks 5
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