Process Manager 2 Lite: What's really going on with your PC?
We find that the task managers Microsoft bundles with Windows usually gets the job done if you just need to terminate a running process or see which application is eating up all of your RAM. But we're still kind of smitten by Process Manager 2 Lite, an enhanced process explorer.
This little application is a free replacement for the built-in Windows task manager. You can either set it to coexist with the default task manager, or you can check a box under "Windows Integration" in the settings to make Process Manager 2 Lite the default utility that runs when you hit Ctrl+Alt+Del.
The application shows you running tasks, like you would expect. But you can also click on a process and select "show dependency" to see related processes. Unlike Windows Task Manager, there's also a log file, which can come in handy, and as an added bonus you get the option of editing your Windows startup applications from within Process Manager 2 Lite. It's also a lot prettier than Windows Task Manager or the also-free Process Explorer from SysInternals.
[WinBeta]
This little application is a free replacement for the built-in Windows task manager. You can either set it to coexist with the default task manager, or you can check a box under "Windows Integration" in the settings to make Process Manager 2 Lite the default utility that runs when you hit Ctrl+Alt+Del.
The application shows you running tasks, like you would expect. But you can also click on a process and select "show dependency" to see related processes. Unlike Windows Task Manager, there's also a log file, which can come in handy, and as an added bonus you get the option of editing your Windows startup applications from within Process Manager 2 Lite. It's also a lot prettier than Windows Task Manager or the also-free Process Explorer from SysInternals.
[WinBeta]













Comments
6
Subscribe to commentsRPNov 26th 2007 12:28PM
OK, I guess it looks nice.
I found the splash screen very annoying -- having to wait 3-4 seconds while it shows "Loading...".
The button "Kill all Unknow Processes" (sic) is intriguing... it asks, "Are you sure?", but I'm scared to push "yes". Who knows what it might kill.
I'll stick with SysInternals, which is faster, lighter-weight, yet much more powerful. SysInternal's app has a tray icon that shows a CPU graph, and also a graph per process. That rocks for seeing who's hogging the CPU over time. And it has a nice indented view with color coding.
RPNov 26th 2007 12:31PM
Ahhh, it notifies you whenever a new process starts, via a small window near the system tray.
And it shows you a list of startup items in the registry and startup folders.
So those are 2 features that SysInternals Process Explorer doesn't have. (But I'm not switching. :-)
Alek DavisNov 26th 2007 7:52PM
When I try to launch the program, I see the splash screen (which, I agree with other commenters, is annoying bacause of the forced delay, although it's not bad looking), and then I get this error "An unhandled exception ('System.OverflowException') occurred in PManager2Lite.exe [6916]." Running XP SP 2 with all currently available .NET CLRs.
Rick McGeeNov 26th 2007 9:18PM
I also dislike the splash screen that lingers too long. Never got to try anything else, because the program failed with the infamous error "... encountered a problem and needs to close" before it completed startup. Running Win XP SP2 with auto update. Going to stay with Process Explorer -- it works, and it's fast.
john zwickerNov 27th 2007 11:46AM
takes up 37MB of memory...lame
amanDec 5th 2007 8:51AM
wonderful and superb program but not working speed