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+--- Thread: uses for the task manager (/showthread.php?tid=3260)
uses for the task manager - F2d5thCav - 12-28-2025
Found a couple of uses for the Win10 task manager.
Task manager lets a user see which processes and programs are running on the PC. It can be started by right clicking on the taskbar and selecting the "task manager" option.
Recently, my browser misbehaved and took too much memory, which made the PC unusable for most anything. I wanted to maximize a minimized window, but couldn't. I found in task manager, for some processes, one can right click on the process name and one of the options offered is "maximize", which brought the window back up immediately.
Yesterday, I mistakenly closed the "explorer.exe" process, thinking it was the file explorer program. Everything BUT task manager disappeared from the PC screen. The screen was black and would not respond to mouse clicks. I thought I might have to restart the PC. Again, in task manager, a right click on the process name sometimes gives the option "open file location". So I tried that for a process, and bingo, the file explorer program started and placed me in the directory that process starts from. From there I could navigate and restart explorer.exe -- the graphical user interface started right up and I could work normally again.
Unfortunately, Microsoft has produced a bunch of tools but average users never see any guidance on how to use them. Task manager is one of those tools.
RE: uses for the task manager - Ninurta - 12-28-2025
Back when I was a Windows user, I used to love Task Manager. There were times that I kept it open the entire time I was logged in to fix recurring problems. Most folks have no idea how much useless crap is running in the background of Windows, clogging up their system.
You're right, Windows had a lot of hidden gems in it. Most of the ones I found I found by mistake, or "trial and error"... as in "what if I try this?" and, sometimes, "oops!" afterwards Since there is little or no documentation on most of it that has been released to the public, it got to the point that I wondered how much of it was on purpose, and how much of it was just sloppy programming recursion.
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