Recently I wanted to start Symantec’s pcAnywhere 12.1 on Windows XP and when I started it none of the icons for remote clients were showing. So I closed pcAnywhere and restarted the program. It didn’t restart.
Well, instead of spending a bunch of time trying to figure it out or contacting Symantec I decided to fire up Windows Task Manager and just go to the Applications or Processes tabs and click on End Process. That didn’t work either. On a side note, every great once in a while Firefox won’t start when I’ve closed it. Usually it’s still running and you can tell by looking in the Windows Task Manager, finding the Firefox.exe program running, highlight it and click on End Process. However, with pcAnywhere Windows Task Manager wasn’t stopping or killing the process.
I suppose I could reboot but that’s a bit munch. So I remember a little program that was created by a company called SysInternals and is now part of Microsoft TechNet, it’s called Process Explorer. Process Explorer digs a bit deeper than the Windows XP Task Manager does. It’s also not for the faint of heart, folks who don’t like to tinker with their systems too much. However, in this example it’s pretty easy as long as you can read. 🙂
Below is a screen shot of Process Explorer running under Windows XP and I’ve highlighted the pcAnywhere program running. However, the program is not visible on the screen.
Click image for larger view
At this point you can press the Delete key or right-click on the program and select Kill Process. This removed the invisible pcAnywhere program and I was able to restart pcAnywhere. Now, this is just one very small part of Process Explorer, there’s a ton of information that it provides for techie folks if you’re interested.
You can down load Process Explorer here.
A favorite program of mine. Once found a new virus using this program and submitted to SARC.
Autoruns is another favorite of mine from Sysinternals (Now Microsoft…)
@Jim – All those tools that came out of sysinternals were/are great. I don’t know if the file monitoring tools work with vista but last time I tried, no such luck. DiskMon.
Very informative! I wasn’t aware of Process Explorer – my brother usually takes care of my laptop and I don’t think even he knows about it, so I’m going to be showing off later – and I’m so grateful for the tip about firefox and how sometimes it won’t restart because it’s apparently ‘still running’.
Helpful post! My computer has been messed up with .exe files virus. Even TaskManager denied to open, ProcessExplorer worked for me.Thanks alot..Guys must try it!
LOL, i think i’m one of the few people that reinstall windows when i have a problem like that, i’m dumb, i know 😀
@Filme Bune: Thanks for stoppin’ by. Yes, it can be difficult to walk thru why something is happening if you aren’t familiar with figuring out why things happen the way they do in Windows.
Cool – I have a major issue with task manager at the minute, in that it seems to no longer work very well. I will try this Process Explorer – I suspose it is cool for virus checking as well?