Process Manager

Process Manager is a tiny and portable piece of software that gives users the possibility to easily terminate active processes, similar to Task Manager.

Since installation is not a prerequisite, you can put the EXE file in a custom directory on the hard disk and run it directly.

There is also the option to save Process Manager to a USB flash disk or similar mass storage device, in order to run it on any workstation with minimum effort, as long as it has .NET Framework.

An important factor to take into account is that the Windows registry and Start menu do not get updated with new entries, so no traces are left behind after the app's removal.

Similar to Task Manager, Process Manager has a neatly organized structure, where a list is immediately populated with all currently running processes at startup. You can view the process name, ID, priority, threads, used memory, handles, and modules.

Clicking an entry reveals additional information on the bottom part of the screen, such as MD5 hash, startup time, file version, company, attributes, and description. It is possible to change the priority, end a process (by ID or name), look it up on Google, view file properties (just like in Windows Explorer), as well as scan a folder for similar processes.

Adding a new task to the list is done by pointing out the file, arguments, working priority, and window state. Plus, you can run it with the credentials of another user account.

Other options let users add or remove entries of apps that automatically run at system startup, quickly activate a power management function (e.g. shutdown, restart), make the frame stay on top of other windows, show groups, as well as replace Task Manager with Process Manager. Some system settings may be restored to default, such as the ones pertaining to Control Panel, AutoRun, and RegEdit.

Process Manager does not put a strain on computer performance, as it consumes low CPU and RAM. We have not come across any kind of issues throughout our evaluation, since the tool did not freeze, crash or pop up error dialogs. It seems that Process Manager has a lot to offer to advanced users, making it a very good alternative to Task Manager.