Use windows tasklist for streamlining various programs and processes

Introduction

Windows Tasklist is a tool that displays list of services and applications for all the tasks that are running in remote or local computer. It provides information on CPU and memory usage about each application running on Windows. It can be a useful troubleshooting tool since it shows the application dependent files, such as DLLs and other file information related to a process. It comes with Windows XP professional edition but not with the Home Edition.

Windows tasklist

Tasklist makes the system more efficient

If you are concerned about the overall performance of your system, Windows Tasklist tool gives information on the processes, which may be taking a lot of memory and make tremendous CPU usage. You can also troubleshoot problems in Windows OS since it provides you detailed information about the programs and processes running in the system. Find out the specific DLL or file that is causing the problem.

Launching Tasklist

1. Start the command prompt by clicking on Start Menu, then type Run and then cmd.

2. Type Tasklist at the prompt and hit enter key. The list will show you five columns of information, which are:

a. Image Name: It displays the name of the task or executable that is running.

b. PID (Process ID): This is a unique number assigned by Windows for each process or task. A process name could be identical but the ID will always be unique. In addition, the PID differs for each session of the program.

c. Session Name: If you are a Home PC user, this column will display "console" which indicates that the process was started locally. For network users, it will display the session name of the process.

d. Session#: Windows assigns a number for each session of the process. This is useful for network users and can be ignored by Home PC users.

e. Mem Usage: It shows the memory used by a specific process, which is running at the time when Tasklist is launched.

Advanced parameters

There are other parameters, which can be used to retrieve more information. Note that these parameters are not case sensitive.

To find the relationship between the services and the process that are running on the system, you can use the following command:

tasklist /svc >services.txt

You can output this information to a txt file by including the output file name. You can use this command to troubleshoot problems specific to a service by monitoring its related processes and other properties.

Finding the dependent files used by a process

To know the list of files or DLLs used by a process, use the command:

tasklist /m.

In case you want to know a list of processes used by a particular DLL, use the same command followed by the name of a specific DLL.

Use of filters

You can narrow down the output using specific filters with the /fi command.

tasklist /fi "status eq not responding"

Conclusion

You can use this powerful command line tool to speed up your troubleshooting and monitoring of Windows system. You can easily figure out those processes and programs that hinder your system's performance. Maximize the system's efficiency by using this nifty tool.