Using Tools Like Task Manager When Troubleshooting Windows

Be it a simple application freeze, an unresponsive desktop or a white screen, there probably aren’t many people around the globe who haven’t experienced some kind of trouble whilst using a computer. And the more you use computer devices, the higher the chance of you knowing the feeling of frustration and despair that can go with such events. Some fixes are simple, while others require assistance.

In dire times, enter the IT support agents, some of them savvily armed with TSplus Remote Support And everything should get better soon. If you’re one for DIY before calling for help, here are a few essentials to try when a machine lets you down. And you can deal with your own or anyone else's anywhere thanks to our remote-control software.

Where to Start With Computer Issues

There are a few places to start when troubleshooting. Let me name "Ctrl+Alt+Del", which will open Task Manager on most Windows machines, "Restart" or "the off-switch" depending how frozen everything is, and finally, checking all "cables" are well connected.

It’s always worth making sure the basics are in good order. Indeed, a printer has no chance of communicating without its cable being plugged in properly.

Documenting the Troubleshooting Steps

Before you start, you might want to keep in mind that it’s always good to take notes of the steps you’ve taken. Two good reasons for this are: future fixes on a similar problem and asking for help when all else has failed. So, remember to jot things down, take screen captures of error messages, etc. so you can refer to all that as needed.

Where to Begin Troubleshooting Windows

Now, it doesn’t matter whether you are bailing someone out remotely via TSplus Remote Support or whether you are fixing something on your own device. Here are a few ideas of troubleshooting solutions.

An all-time favourite has to remain the program manager, generally brought up by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del on just about any Windows device. This shortcut will open Program Manager or Task Manager, which allows you to monitor and potentially close applications. This will generally stop the faulty process causing the freeze. However, you can also download one of many task manager utilities from the Web.

Troubleshooting Windows - Restarting and Updating

It may be the freeze or problem is light enough that you can directly relaunch the faulty application. Or you may be able to close it and update it. Indeed, some applications are sluggish when an update is needed. If that’s all the problem is, no need to look any further.

A Process? Which Process?

The Processes tab displays a comprehensive list of all the processes currently running on your computer. This can be very useful for monitoring your system. It displays information about the processor and memory usage of each process.

The question you might ask is: how to identify a process? There are whole lists of processes which you may see in your Task Manager’s processes list. These are usually those files ending in .exe. An example: "System Idle Process" is basically another name for the time when Windows is doing nothing. There are hundreds of thousands of processes that run on a computer. For a list of well-known processes, a Web search is your best port of call. You can do a general search or learn about individual tasks by using each name as the search term.

Troubleshooting via Task Manager - CPU and Memory Usage

While you’re there, Task Manager can also be used to tweak your system if it's running slow. The Performance tab displays running graphs of your computer’s CPU and memory usage. In the Process tab, you can identify processes that are consuming a lot of processor time.

You can perform these fixes remotely. TSplus Remote Support Features include screen sharing and control, multi-monitor support, live chat, and unattended access.

If the CPU usage seems to be running over 80 percent most of the time, or if the memory usage seems to be running higher than the total physical memory, you may want to shut down some applications or processes. You could click twice on the CPU column heading to sort it so the processes using the most CPU time appear at the top. You can sort the "Memory Usage" column the same way.

Managing Usage via Task Manager – Applications

On the Application tab, if you right click on the name of an application and, in the popup menu that appears, choose "Go To Process", Task Manager will open the Processes tab and highlight the process that runs the application. On the Processes tab, if you right-click on the name of a process, you can choose "Set Priority" and promote the priority of the process you need (or demote the priority of a different process to free up some resources).

If you go to the Application tab and shut down an application, you will shut down any processes related to that application. Or you might choose to shut down a background process that you can identify. To shut down an application or process, click on its name in the list to highlight it, then click on the End Task button. You can even choose "End Process Tree" to kill the process along with any sub-processes started by the process.

This sort of work is great prevention, whether you are servicing your own machine or working on distant devices. It should save users from potential freezes and troubles.

Troubleshooting via Task Manager – Applications

Task Manager can also be used for troubleshooting. If an application freezes up, you can open Task Manager and shut down the application. If the entire system freezes up, you can use Task Manager to shut down a process that is hogging all the CPU time or memory.

If you spend some time monitoring your computer or server with Task Manager, eventually you will become familiar with the processes that commonly run. Then, when you see an unfamiliar process, you can easily do a little investigation to make sure it's not a virus. For example, if you see msblast.exe in the process list, your computer is infected with the Blaster virus. Through regular monitoring, you might be able to detect and eliminate a new virus before an antivirus update is available. Though that doesn't mean you should leave your devices without cyber-protection.

Troubleshooting via Trial and Error

That’s actually the way most troubleshooting takes place. Restarting, closing, updating, pushing back or forth in the CPU and memory usage priority lists, all of these amount to trial and error. Most of an agent’s work will be slowed down or accelerated according to the order in which they try the various solutions and apply any given fix. That said, here are another couple of things to try before going in deep and trying to fix things at system-level. Though, you might find our cyber-security software TSplus Advanced Security can step in too, for instance saving you work and worry in the following two areas.

Troubleshooting by Removing Unwanted Programs

It is worth looking through the list of applications in your devices once in a while. Should you spot any software which you don’t remember downloading or installing, it could be unwanted and even malicious. The best thing to do with unwanted software is simply uninstall it. You or your client may no-longer need it, or it may be a stowaway, no matter. The uninstall button is the sensible path to follow.

Troubleshooting by Scanning for Malware

And last but not least, you may want to scan the troubled machine for malware. Sluggishness and hampered processes can easily be a sign of the presence of malware. Do pay heed to such signs and check for malware so you can nip the problem in the bud. As malware can mean quarantining a section, set of files or more, the quicker it is spotted and stopped, the better.

To Conclude on Troubleshooting Windows

By no means exhaustive, this is a starter-list of places to look for causes of computer trouble you may have to solve. And if you want to work on devices from a distance, TSplus Remote Support is the tool for the job.

You can buy Remote Support now or test it first for 15 days for free. Come and discover other TSplus products on our site.