Performance Tuning
Task Manager
Applications
- The Applications tab in Task Manager shows all user applications running on the computer. The status of applications listed here will be Running or Not Responding.
- You can sort the list by clicking the column heads. If an application has multiple documents open, the application appears only once in the list, probably with the name of the document that is foremost at the time (has the focus).
- You can also view the process that corresponds with an application to find out more detailed information. To do so, right-click the task and click Go To Process.
However, this tab does provide a more complete report than you'll get by glancing at the taskbar buttons or via the dialog box you see if you press Alt+Tab.
Some applications don't comply with this single-document interface (SDI) approach, listing each new document as a separate application. Some examples of non- SDI applications are Microsoft Office programs such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
From this list, you can kill a hung application. If an application has hung, it is probably reported in the list as Not Responding (although this is not always true). Click the End Task button to terminate the task. If a document is open and unsaved, and if, for some unexpected reason, the program responds gracefully to Windows' attempt to shut it down (which is unlikely), you might see a dialog box asking whether you want to save the document. More likely, Windows 7 will just ask for confirmation to kill the application.
Notice that you can also switch to an application in the list or run a new one. Just double-click the application you want to switch to (or click Switch To). Similarly, to run a new application, click New Task (Run), and enter the executable name or use the Browse dialog box to find it.