Process Hacker

Description

Process Hacker is an advanced, free, open source task manager for Windows. It can help Windows users to analyze, manage threads, processes, memory, handles and almost anything that runs on Windows.

The software interface looks similar to well-known Microsoft Process Explorer, but the vast amount of features gives the main difference. These are just a few of them: an overview of resource usage, process termination, memory view, detailed system information, bypass process protection, kill or restart processes, view full token details, view modules, view process handles, full list of services, view and close network connections and many others.

Alternatives: System Explorer is a freeware task manager alternative to Process Hacker.

Process Hacker Review

There are several free, popular process viewers for Microsoft Windows. From the open-source world, the most famous name is definitely Process Hacker. Although it's well-known as a process manager, the developers kept adding new and exciting features, so in the meantime the software evolved into a multi-purpose utility.

The program comes in two versions: installer and portable. Both of them work on 32-bit and 64-bit, and the entire setup process (for installer version) is easy enough (and customizable) even for beginners. The main software interface is clear, well-designed and it may look easy to use.

The program also has some unique features such as a tool that can find and terminate hidden processes created by dangerous malware such as rootkits. The homepage of Process Hacker has a better list of its features split into several sections: processes, threads, tokens, modules, memory, handles, services, and network.

If you wish to kill a running process all you have to do is to select the process, perform a right-click and from the list of options choose "Terminate." However, once you look better at all the choices and features, you realize that this is a sophisticated security tool.

Yes, it can be used by anyone, but to be able to make use of all features you should have a basic understanding of Windows, security, and malware. This application is a "must-have" if you're serious about keeping an eye on what's running on your Windows PC. For beginners, it's way better than the "Task Manager" from Windows, and for experts it's priceless.