Tutorials
How can I use the Windows Task Manager to locate suspicious programs, services, and processes that may be related to Spyware, and how can I disable them?
The Windows Task Manager is a utility that can tell you all kinds of useful information about what’s happening on your computer. It can tell you who is currently logged in, how much of your computer’s resources are being used at the moment, and what programs are running. The last of these is what concerns us with respect to spyware. Opening the Windows Task Manager is easy:
To open the Windows Task Manager, press the [Ctrl], [Alt], and [Del] keys at the same time. The “Windows Task Manager” window opens.
To see what programs are running, click the “Applications” tab at the top of the window. The main panel displays a list of the applications that are currently open. Applications are usually programs like word processing software, e-mail programs, or other programs that you open and use. All of the items in this list should be easily recognizable. Because spyware programmers know that you don’t want their software running on your machine, they often hide their programs from this list. Still, if you see an unfamiliar program name here, there’s a chance that it could be spyware.
The “Applications” tab of the “Windows Task Manager” window
Next, click on the “Processes” tab of the Windows Task Manager. Doing so shows you what is most likely a much longer list, and the names probably aren’t very familiar. Processes are programs and parts of programs that include the programs that you start. Windows itself runs many more processes that control various aspects of your computer. Unlike the “Applications” tab, spyware programmers can’t hide their wares from this list. Everything that Windows is doing appears here, so if there’s spyware loaded, it’s process will be here.
The “Processes” tab of the “Windows Task Manager” window
Recognition of malicious processes is the key to using the Task Manager to identify spyware. There are many processes, and it’s difficult to determine each one’s purpose by name alone. You can look up a process on this website to determine what it is doing: http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/
If you determine that an application or process is spyware, you can use the Task Manager to disable the program by doing the following:
WARNING: Ending a regular application or process through the Windows Task Manager can cause system instability. End applications and processes here only if you are certain that the program is spyware.
To end an application in the “Applications” tab:
- Click the name of the application in the list to highlight it.
- Click the “End Task” button at the bottom of the window. The name of the application disappears from the list, indicating that it is no longer running.
To end a process in the “Processes” tab:
- Click the name of the process in the list to highlight it.
- Click the “End Process” button at the bottom of the window. The name of the process disappears from the list, indicating that it is no longer running.
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