Ways to start the task manager. how to open task manager how to open task manager

Sometimes programs don't work exactly the way you want them to. They can work with a bunch of errors, not respond (not respond to your actions), and eventually hang with the inscription "Not responding" in the title bar.

It is not always possible to bring such “hanging” programs back to life or close them in the usual way using the cross in the upper right corner. This is where we need to launch the task manager.

Task Manager (taskmgr) is a standard utility included with all versions of Windows. The main tasks are to display a list of current processes and applications, as well as display information about the load on computer resources.

Most people know only one way to call the task manager, but in fact there are as many as six of them!

Let's take a closer look at how to call the task manager in different ways.

Method #1: Ctrl + Alt + Del

Ctrl+Alt+Del. This method will probably be the most familiar to you. Up until Windows Vista, by pressing these three cherished buttons, you could directly turn on the Windows Task Manager.

However, starting with Windows Vista, this tradition was violated. Now, pressing this key combination will take you to Windows Security, which will allow you to choose from five different options for further use of the Windows operating system.

That is why other ways to launch the task manager may be more relevant.

Method number 2: through the taskbar

By clicking the right mouse button on any "free space" of the Windows Taskbar. This is perhaps the fastest and most convenient way to call the dispatcher. You just need to right-click on the Windows taskbar and select the "Start Task Manager" context menu item. These two actions will bring up the Task Manager.

Method number 3: through the command line

Starting with the taskmgr command. By executing this command in the Windows Command Prompt, you will launch the Task Manager. To do this, click the "Start" button, then select the "All Programs" menu item, then the "Accessories" sub-item, and then select the "Run" sub-item. The same can be achieved simply by enabling the "Run" command or by pressing the key combination "Windows" + R on the keyboard. In the window that appears, type the command "taskmgr" and press the "Enter" key to execute it.

The command line is a universal way to solve many issues. For example, it can be used to define or find .

Method #4: Ctrl + Shift + Esc

Ctrl + Shift + Esc. This key combination will bring up the Windows Task Manager. This launch method will not take you to Windows Security, but will immediately launch the Windows Task Manager.

Method number 5: through the direct launch of the taskmgr.exe file

This method of launching the Windows Task Manager is the longest of all available, but if it is not called in any other way, then this method is better than none at all. As part of this method, we open the folder where the dispatcher is located and run it directly.

To do this, you need to open Windows Explorer, Total Commander or any file manager you have, then go to the C:\Windows\System32 directory and find the file “taskmgr.exe” there. Double-click on it with the left mouse button and launch the Windows Task Manager.

Method number 6: by creating a shortcut to taskmgr.exe

Create a shortcut to taskmgr.exe. This method is extremely inconvenient for a beginner. In order to create a shortcut that will launch the Windows Task Manager, you need to go through Explorer to the C:\Windows\System32 folder, find a file called "taskmgr.exe" there, right-click on it and send the shortcut to the desktop . With this method, the Windows Task Manager will always be at your fingertips in a prominent place.

That's all the known ways to launch a program called Task Manager in Windows. Some of them are more convenient and effective than others, but if you have no choice, you are in a difficult situation, for example, you have caught some kind of virus, or something like that, then the above methods will become simply indispensable for you. . Study them carefully and memorize them. Choose for yourself one method that is most convenient for you to launch the Task Manager and use it.

Task Manager is a system utility in operating systems of the Windows family that allows you to monitor the current computer load, monitor running processes and terminate hung processes that, for various reasons, have stopped responding to system requests. The Task Manager can also be very useful in the process of dealing with malicious software that is not removed from the computer by the installed antivirus.

There are various ways to open the Windows Task Manager.

1. The legendary keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Alt + Delete immediately launches the Task Manager in Windows XP, and in Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems, leads to the appearance of a menu in which you need to select the “Start Task Manager” item, after which the manager window will appear.
   
2. Without additional dialog boxes, the task manager in Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems can be launched by pressing the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + Esc.
   
3. In any empty area of ​​​​the lower Windows taskbar, right-click with the mouse and select "Task Manager" in the context menu that appears.
   
4. You can also open Task Manager by its process name. To do this, click the "Start" button and then in Windows XP select Run and enter the command "taskmgr" only without quotes. In Windows Vista and Windows 7, you can type this command directly into the search box just above the Start button when you click it.
   It is also convenient to open the window for entering various commands in any version of Windows by pressing the Win + R key combination, and then enter the taskmgr command into it.
   

After starting the Task Manager, its window will open with the following main tabs:

• Applications- the first tab, which is very often used to remove frozen applications.
  
• Processes- the second tab that displays all the processes of all users currently running on the computer. Useful for stopping processes generated by viruses and malware during manual fight against them.
  
• Services- the next tab, which lists all services registered on the computer, both running and stopped at the moment.
  
• Performance- a tab that displays in graphical form the chronology of processor loading and RAM usage.
  
• Net- a tab that shows on graphs the loading and use of network interfaces running on a computer. Available starting from Windows Vista operating system.
  
• Users- the last tab, showing running sessions of various users on this computer.
  

According to the default settings, the task manager window opens on top of other windows, which in some cases can be inconvenient. To cancel this mode, click on the top menu item "Options" in the launched dispatcher and uncheck the item "Over all other windows". The location priority of the Task Manager will be overridden.

If the task manager started in the view mode without menus and tabs, as shown in the figure below, then this means that it was once accidentally or deliberately switched to this mode.

You can return it to the normal view with tabs and menus by double-clicking the area around the tabs, highlighted in yellow in the figure.

To control the various processes running in operating systems of the Windows family, there is an excellent third-party application called Process Explorer. The fact that Microsoft recommends it to users of its operating systems from the page of its official website at .

This application allows you to find out in a simple and visual form which program launched a particular process, which descriptors (identifiers) are open and libraries used.

The Task Manager is an important system tool that allows users to monitor how running applications are performing: how much memory they are consuming, how much CPU they use, how often they access the network, and so on.

With the release of new versions of Windows, the Task Manager tool acquires new features and becomes even more useful, so all users who want to keep the system in a healthy state need to know how to enable the task manager.

Ways to start the dispatcher

There are six main ways to launch the task manager that work on all versions of Windows, from XP to Windows 10 (except for Win + X, which only works on the "eight" and "ten").

Hotkeys

To invoke the Task Manager, users typically press the Ctrl+Alt+Delete key combination. Depending on the OS version, this combination works differently:

• On Windows XP, the Task Manager window immediately appears.
• On Windows 7 and later, the security screen opens first, where there is an item "Start Task Manager".

If you do not want to get to the security screen, then use Ctrl + Shift + Esc instead of the usual set of keys. In this case, you will immediately see the Task Manager window with all the necessary tabs and tools.

Task bar

Another way to get quick access to Task Manager features is to right-click on the taskbar and click "Start Task Manager".

Just a couple of clicks, and the "Processes" tab will appear on the screen, through which you can track which applications load memory and processor.

Run menu

If hotkeys and the taskbar do not suit you, use the "Run" function to launch the dispatcher.

1. Press Win+R or search for the "Run" function in the Start menu.
2. Enter the "taskmgr" command.
3. Press Enter or use the OK button.

After performing these simple steps, you will see a task manager window completely ready for work on the screen.

Without using the keyboard

You can also turn on the dispatcher without a keyboard: the Task Manager startup file is located in the "system32" directory on the system partition of the disk:

1. Open "Computer" (on Windows XP "My Computer").
2. Navigate to the system partition where Windows files are stored.
3. Open the Windows directory.
4. Go to the "system32" folder.
5. Find and run the Taskmgr.exe utility

Since you already know where the taskmgr.exe executable file is located, you can apply another method - displaying the Task Manager shortcut on the desktop.

Desktop shortcut

Right-click on an empty space on the desktop, expand the "New" section and select "Shortcut" (shown on the example of Windows 7, but works on all modern versions of the OS from Microsoft, including XP).

In the window that appears, specify the location of the object and click "Next".

Come up with a name for the shortcut or leave the standard name "taskmgr.exe" (if necessary, you can change the name later). After clicking the "Finish" button, a shortcut will appear on the desktop, double-clicking on which will launch the dispatcher.

Windows 8 introduced another additional method to call the Task Manager system tool:

1. Press the Win + X combination (or right-click the start screen icon).
2. Select "Task Manager" from the menu that appears.

This method does not work on XP and the "seven", but has been preserved in Windows 10, so if your computer has a new system, you can use the described method without any problems.

Dispatcher disabled by administrator

We figured out the launch methods, but there is another important question - how to enable the task manager if it is disabled by the administrator? The reason for the notification about the impossibility of launching the dispatcher may be not only the administrator's prohibition, but also the action of the virus. You can fix the problem through the command line:

1. Run a command prompt with administrator privileges.
2. Write the command "REG add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v DisableTaskMgr /t REG_DWORD /d /0 /f" and press Enter.

If the command line does not work, you can paste the above command into a new text document created in Notepad, and then save the resulting .bat file and run it as an administrator. If this method seems complicated, use the features of the registry editor:

1. Press Win + R and type "regedit" in the Run window.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\System. If the System key does not exist, it must be created.
3. Find (create) the DisableTaskMgr parameter and set the value to "0".
4. Close Registry Editor, restart your computer.

After completing these steps, the Task Manager should start using one of the six methods listed above. By the way, do not forget to check the system for viruses - if malware blocked the Task Manager, then you should definitely cure your computer.

In this article, we will show you how to open the task manager in different ways. There will also be an overview of the program itself, where we will analyze in detail its functionality by tabs. So let's get started.

How to open task manager

In order to enable an application on Windows XP, 7, 8 or 10, we can use a lot of ways. We will consider them in order of simplicity. That is: the simplest option will be described first, then the more difficult one, and so on.

Also at the end of the article there is a training video in which everything written in the article is shown by our author. We highly recommend watching the video.

Button combinations

Let's start with the simplest - "hot keys". In order to call the dispatcher, you can hold down several buttons at the same time, and the program will immediately start. This option allows you to perform various actions on a PC that does not even have a mouse or it is broken.

The easiest way to open the task manager is to use the Ctrl + Shift + Esc buttons. As soon as the combination is pressed, the utility will immediately open.

Let's consider another option.

If we hold down the key combination Ctrl + Alt + Del , the system menu will start, which works in any games and software. In the list, you can select a number of functions, including calling the software we need.

There are also other possibilities:

• block;
• change user;
• go out.

This combination of "hot buttons" makes it possible to end the program or game that caused the PC to freeze.

Through the taskbar

Another very simple option that allows you to enable the manager on Windows of any version is to right-click on an empty spot on the taskbar. You simply click with the mouse (namely, with the right key) on an empty space in the Windows panel and select the item marked with the number "2".

As a result, the task manager can be called up and its functionality can be used.

Finding in explorer

There is another more interesting, but time-consuming way to enable the dispatcher on Windows XP, 7, 8 or 10. Let's see how it works:

So, where is our application, let's figure it out. Open Windows Explorer and navigate to C:\Windows\System32. Scroll through the list of files and run Taskmgr.exe. As a result, the task manager will start immediately.

This option has one serious advantage - due to the fact that we know where the executable file of our utility is located, we can create a shortcut that will launch it and place it in any convenient place.

Create a label

Based on the method that we discussed above, one more useful thing can be done, namely, create a shortcut that will open the software.

This is done as follows:

1. On an empty spot on the desktop, right-click and select the "Create" menu, then click on "Shortcut".

1. In the window that appears, enter the path to the task manager executable file or click "Browse".

1. We find our program in the Windows folder and select the desired file. Then we click on "OK".

1. Then click "Next".

1. The label should be given a name. Enter the desired phrase and click the "Finish" button.

1. As a result, a cute shortcut that appears on your desktop can call up the right software at any time.

Right click on the start menu

You can also launch Task Manager using the Start menu. However, you need to click on it with the right mouse button or use the set of "hot keys" Win + X. As a result, the DZ will immediately open.

This menu has a number of other useful functions. You can see each of them in the screenshot above.

How to launch task manager via windows search

Windows 10 has a great search tool that wasn't available in earlier versions of Microsoft's operating system.

In order to launch the software we need or any other application through the search, simply click on the magnifying glass icon, enter the name of the object you are looking for and click on the desired item in the search results.

1. In the black window, enter the command "taskmgr.exe" and press Enter.

Ready. The manager will open immediately.

Program Overview

After we figured out how to launch the task manager, let's take a closer look at it. Let's say right away: when the system monitor is launched for the first time, you will see a very small square that has no functions at all.

To open the full functionality, just click the marked button.

Usually, when users see such a compact view of the utility, they think that the tabs are gone and start asking us why the task manager does not open completely.

The "Processes" tab displays a number of applications and system processes that can be sorted by name, CPU load, RAM, Video card, etc. Using this tab, we can unload a "hung" application or see what "slows down" the PC.

Here are collected graphs that show in real time the workload of various computer hardware components.

Magazine

It displays all the applications that put a load on the resources of our PC. Also, all indicators are divided into categories. The time during which this or that software loaded the system is also indicated.

The startup menu displays a list of software that starts automatically with Windows. If there are too many components, the OS will also load slowly.

This section displays a list of all users who are currently using the PC.

Details

The "Details" item, like the "Processes" section, contains all the applications that are currently running. The difference in this menu is the ability to display the home directory of a running process. In the screenshot you can see how using the context menu you can open the path to one of the processes.

Attention: if the program does not start, you may be able to restore the system. We have it shown in .

Main menu

There is also a main menu that allows you to launch the explorer through the dispatcher or call any other application. In order to do this, just click "File" - "Run a new task" and select the desired software. For Windows Explorer, this is “explorer.exe”.

Answers on questions

Below we answer the most popular questions that users most often ask.

When you turn on the task manager, the CPU usage drops. What's the matter?

The fact is that any application takes away some performance from the computer. Therefore, at the time of launching the software, on the chart you see a wave of increased load. When the software starts up, PC performance is restored.

How to open the control panel through the task manager

To do this, click the menu "File" - "Run a new task" and enter the command "control". Finally, press Enter.

FIFA 2017 won't launch and just hangs

The fault is the hacked version that you downloaded and are trying to run.

How to find a virus in the task manager

Everything is very simple, this is done like this:

1. We look at which process or program loads our processor, video card or disk to the maximum value of device resources in the "Details" tab.
2. We click on the found object with the right mouse button and select "Open file location".
3. We complete the process again through the context menu and delete the executable files from the opened folder.

In the traditional way, the task manager is opened in quick mode by pressing CTRL + ALT + DEL. There are other methods to call the process and resource manager, so consider, how to start task manager via command line.

Of course, the method is not in demand, but still used by ardent fans of working with cmd. The article will talk about:

1. about launching the task manager window from cmd - opening occurs by entering a command, after which you will see a window with a graphical interface, tabs, buttons.
2. about opening information about running processes of the Windows system - a part of the dispatcher's capabilities is launched and processes are displayed on the command line.

Using the Taskmgr command

1. Click on “start”, go to “all programs”, then find “standard” in the list, right-click on the name “command prompt” and run with administrator rights.

2. In the cmd window, type taskmgr and press ENTER. After that, the task manager should start. In case of incorrect input, you will see an error (shown in the screenshot).

There are situations when, after entering the command, a warning pops up about disabling the task manager (see the screenshot below). This is due to the fact that the administrator has restricted your access or the system may have been infected with malware. In this case, you will need to get rid of the virus and enable the task manager, either in the group policy settings or through the system registry.

That's how you start task manager from command line. Next, let's look at control via cmd.

Using the tasklist command

Tasklist allows you to list running processes on your or a remote computer in a command prompt window. Has its own syntax, which you can see by typing Tasklist/? (shown in the picture).

If you enter Tasklist without parameters, information on the executable processes on your computer will be displayed, and you will see the following structured data, divided into columns:

1. The image name is the name of the executable process. In the main list you will see the names of programs, system files and services, with the extension (.exe).
2. PID - is an identifier that is assigned during creation and has a unique set of numbers.
3. Session name - the names of the elements by which you determine what started the process. Services means that it was started by services or system files. Console - processes enabled by the user.
4. Session number - has values ​​from 0 and above, is the number of the user's session.
5. Memory is everything. Next to each image name is a number in kilobytes (KB) indicating how much RAM is currently in use.

Thus, you can get information and control the state of the system, as well as terminate processes from the command line.

It is also possible to call the command line in Windows 7, and in other operating systems through the task manager. Run it and click "file" -> "new task".

Type cmd and press ENTER (look at the picture).

Here's how you can launch task manager via command line and vice versa. And after studying the Tasklist command, you can monitor the status of your PC and remote computers, with the ability to end the process from cmd.