Process Hacker 2.39.124

Overview

Process Hacker is an extremely useful open-source application that displays information about the processes that are currently running on your computer within a centralized, compact, fully customizable interface. In addition to displaying performance statistics about each process that is running, it also provides convenient access to several integrated features within the Windows operating system to help you gain greater control over the CPU resource usage of each application.

Installation

Installing this program is very simple and only takes a few minutes time. The software has an almost unbelievably compact file size, at only a little bit more than 1.6 MB, and is compatible with Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows XP SP2, Windows SP3, and Windows XP 64-bit. If you've ever installed a Windows program before, you should be able to install this utility with very little hassle.

Interface

Despite its complex functionality, the Process Hacker user interface is surprisingly simple, with five menus located at the top – Hacker, View, Tools, Users, and Help. The main window is split up via three tabs – Processes, Services, and Network. Fortunately, adequate help documentation and e-mail support make this software surprisingly simple to learn, despite its advanced capabilities.

Pros

• Makes it easy to detect which processes are consuming unnecessary amounts of CPU resources, so you know which ones to terminate in order to free up random-access memory (RAM)

• Aids in the process of detecting malicious software that may be consuming CPU resources without your consent

• Provides an extremely useful analysis/diagnostic tool for the informed user

• Is capable of terminating most processes

• Offers a variety of different views, including a tree view that highlights different components of the process tree

• Offers detailed tooltips that provide valuable insight into the operation of certain applications

• Lets you restart processes with a click of the mouse

• Create process dump files to gain insight about application errors

• Lets you read/modify memory within a hex editor, dump memory statistics to a file, scan for strings, and view virtual memory within a single module

• Displays current process handles, and lets you search for specific handles (as well as map files and DLLs)

Cons

• Although Process Hacker is capable of providing a number of detailed statistics in relation to application performance, it is somewhat limited in what it can do to control the consumption of system resources by malicious software - this is to be expected though. As a general rule, we recommend you prevent malicious software from taking over your system by using a top antivirus solution.

Alternatives

There are several notable alternatives to Process Hacker, including System Explorer, MKN TaskExplorer, Process Explorer, Process Monitor, Htop (Linux), and of course the built-in Windows Task Manager that is included by default within all Windows operating systems.

Conclusion

If you're looking for a way to effectively monitor the usage of your systems resources, Process Hacker provides a self-explanatory, robust interface in which you can view the usage statistics of individual applications that are currently active in your operating system. In addition, it helps you terminate these processes quickly and easily within a centralized control panel.