# task manager won't close non responding program



## keithhr (Jan 29, 2006)

I spend way too much time each day trying to have task manager close non responding programs. I am apparently not the only one having this problem, anyone here have a solution? I'm sick of this. I am so upset over this I'm thinking about going to the insame amount of trouble to purchase an apple computer even though it would take me days and days to set it up.
when I click end program in task manager, it take forever to close the programs that are not responding.
Any help would be greatly appreciated


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## KAM (Jan 29, 2006)

If your trying to close them from the applications tab try the process tab


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## Frenchyled (Jan 29, 2006)

I gnerally don't use the task manager in windows XP, but somme freeware that I find much better 

Like what's running 
Or PRCview 

Maybe these utilities can help you


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## JohnK (Jan 29, 2006)

ME TOO !

I hate it !

I wind up having to restart the blasted computer, or just shutting it down.

Help....


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## stevesurf (Jan 29, 2006)

Are you talking about a Mac or PC? If a PC, here's one solution (do this with caution, especially if you have a critical application that starts up with your PC):

Identify the guilty program if possible

1. choose Start - Run - msconfig
2. choose Selective Startup - Uncheck everything
3. click Services Tab - check Enable All - check Hide All Microsoft Services - check Disable All
4. click Startup Tab - check Disable All (most likely they will already be disabled)
5. click OK
6. choose Restart
7. When the PC reboots, click OK and then Exit Without Restart

Your PC has now been rebooted with a minimal startup and some of your software may not work; you need to begin re-enabling Services and Startup items one by one until the rogue program returns.

Good luck!


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## eluminator (Jan 29, 2006)

What operating system are you using?

I presume this happens randomly to various programs. Maybe something has a memory leak and you are running out of memory.

Did you install any new hardware or software when this started happening?


Maybe the event log would show something.


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## carrot (Jan 29, 2006)

IMO Win2K and XP have the best task managers of all the Windows OSes. I like the program EndItAll2, but not sure it kills everything -- with a bit of searching you can find it for free online.

Switching to a Mac sounds nice.


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## Lightmeup (Jan 29, 2006)

I'm not sure; are you saying that TM won't close the program, or just that it takes a long time?

LMU


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## Bradlee (Jan 29, 2006)

I find when trying to end a stubborn program, it is much easier to go into the task manager, RIGHT-click the application which is causing you grief and then go the the process, and stop the process directly. 

You do have to be a little more careful doing things this way, though. For example, if a folder is frozen, the process will be 'explorer .exe', and if you close this, the Windows GUI will close, and you'll have to click File...New Task (in the task manager) and manually type in explorer.exe to re-initiate it.

Hope this helps,


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## greenLED (Jan 29, 2006)

I'm with Stevesurf on this one. However, I recommend a slightly different approach. Make not of the applications/files listed on msconfig's startup list, look them up on the web if it's not immediately obvious what program(s) they're related to, and then deactivate the suprefluous ones. 

Do you have lots of programs resident in memory? I can almost guarantee most of them are unneeded; don't start them unless you really need them.


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## Donovan (Jan 29, 2006)

keithhr said:


> I spend way too much time each day trying to have task manager close non responding programs. I am apparently not the only one having this problem, anyone here have a solution? I'm sick of this. I am so upset over this I'm thinking about going to the insame amount of trouble to purchase an apple computer even though it would take me days and days to set it up.
> when I click end program in task manager, it take forever to close the programs that are not responding.
> Any help would be greatly appreciated



First things first! If you are constantly having to try and close unresponsive programs then something is defintely wrong! This is not normal behavior for a modern pc. I would suspect that your pc is infected with malware and/or corrupted files. This could also be caused by bad hardware such as your hard drive, motherboard or memory. Please post or PM me more info on your pc: What brand/model is it? Windows version and service pack? What programs are you running that keep locking up? With a better idea of what is going on, you can easily get this resolved!


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## Lightmeup (Jan 29, 2006)

greenLED said:


> I'm with Stevesurf on this one. However, I recommend a slightly different approach. Make not of the applications/files listed on msconfig's startup list, look them up on the web if it's not immediately obvious what program(s) they're related to, and then deactivate the suprefluous ones.
> 
> Do you have lots of programs resident in memory? I can almost guarantee most of them are unneeded; don't start them unless you really need them.


This is very true. I remember when I first installed XP Pro on my machine, MS had all kinds of stupid processes running that were not needed, and furthermore created potential security loopholes. I was able to get the normal number of processes running on my computer down from 39 to 25 without any loss of functionality. This also freed up some memory and processing power that was being wasted, allowing my normal programs to run a little faster.

LMU


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## aso (Jan 31, 2006)

One of the best programs I have ever used is Codestuff Starter . It is a thousand times better than Task Manager at finding and closing unwanted/stubborn programs and services. Best of all it is free.


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## lazee (Jan 31, 2006)

try cleaning up your computer with an anti spyware program like spybot to get rid of spyware in your computer. these spyware are ram eaters and slows down your computer significantly. with those out of your way, at least half of excess programs will be gone and your task manager should stop lagging. from there, you can stop those programs that the spybot had missed out before.


heres a link to dl spybot:

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/


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