TaskExplorer is a free, open source application for Windows computers that can be used as an alternative to Operating System Task Manager.
TaskExplorer to justify its existence as Task Manager alternative, is designed to provide functionality that the built-in Windows application, Task Manager, lacks.
The program is available for 32 bit and 64 bit versions of Windows. The minimum version of Windows it can run is Windows 7. The application itself is based on Qt Framework, which explains the very large size of 37 Megabytes.
TaskExplorer is a portable program (no need to install). Once you run it it displays on top of it window of 14 lines of performance, on the left a tree list of running processes and on the right information.
The app updates the data in real time, but you can press the pause button to stop the automatic refresh. Clicking the black arrow next to the refresh button displays options to change the auto-update time from the default value of 1 second to another. Values range from extremely fast refresh (every 0,1 seconds) to extremely slow (every 10 seconds).
The performance lines displayed at the top of the window are by default the most basic. There you will see general information about the activity of memory, input / output, CPU, GPU, etc. You can change the tabs to get access in advanced information about CPU, memory, DNS, services, network or GPU.
The lower half of the table shows information about the specific process. The information is updated when you select a process from the left sidebar. The screen is divided into tabs and you can find a lot of information listed there. From basic information such as one's name and route archiveimage, up to handles, sockets, threads and more.
Right-clicking on any process in the sidebar will bring up a menu. This includes the usual options, e.g. closing or opening a folder, but also options to change priority or affinity, rights or other advanced options, such as “run as user”, generate crash or debug errors.
You can use TaskExplorer to free up memory in many ways, clear DNS cache, search for handles, modules, or strings (in memory), or change the power state of your computer.
TaskExplorer is a powerful task manager for Microsoft Windows devices. It is designed for advanced users as it provides information that most ordinary users do not need.
