

Process Explorer 15 on Windows XP Process Explorer is an alternative to Windows' native task manager offering a far wider range of functions. Version 15, which has now been released, displays GPU usage and can restart services. In a cosmetic change, CPU and disk usage etc. are no longer displayed on a grid. Process Explorer v15 also has a smaller memory footprint and visually cleaner performance graphs.

Process Monitor was originally developed by Sysinternals, which was founded in 1996 by Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell. They created a number of Windows system utilities which have long been available free of charge and are considered by many administrators as essential tools of the trade. Alongside Process Explorer, key tools include Autoruns for Windows, which displays programs set to autorun, and Process Monitor, which logs access to the disk and registry (and is the successor to both Regmon and Filemon).

Microsoft acquired Sysinternals in July of 2006 and it is now part of Microsoft's TechNet web site that offers resources, tools and guides for developers and IT professionals. Russinovich works for Microsoft as a Technical Fellow, giving frequent presentations at events such as Build (formerly PDC) and TechEd.

More information about this major update can be found in a post on the Sysinternals TechNet blog. Process Explorer 15 is available to download (direct download) for Windows XP or later, and Server 2003 or later (x86, x64 or ia64), though GPU monitoring only works in Vista or later.

(crve)