Without a doubt that Process Explorer from Sysinternals is one of the best Task Manager replacement tool. It provides a lot of detailed information which most normal computer users wouldn’t know how to interpret. There are tons of other free Task Manager alternative such as Anvir Task Manager, PC Inspector Task Manager, DTaskManager, TaskPatrol 2, Process Manager 2 Lite, Daphne, Process Viewer and etc…
Here is another task manager software called System Explorer. I’ve heard about but never put it to the test. Now that I’ve did, I find that it is really good and it has its own pros if compared with the famous Process Explorer.
System Explorer is freeware tool for exploring internals of Windows based operating systems. Can be used as Task Manager replacement with many features. The latest version 1.5 (or above) is based on plugin system which provides possibility to turn off unwanted functionality or extend actual functionality with external plugins. It can run on Windows XP, Windows Vista or further.
Major features of System Explorer
Detailed information about Tasks, Processes, Modules, Performance, Startups, IE Addons, System Addons, Uninstallers, Windows, Services, Drivers, Connections, Snapshots and Opened Files. Easy check of suspicious files via VirusTotal and Jotti service. Automatic security check of processes, modules and any selected files with Spyware Terminator database. Easy search details about file/process via online databases Easy access to System Utilities. Able to replace Windows Task Manager Performance graphs for monitoring usage of system resources in time Action History for monitoring processes activities Making of System Snapshots for easy finding of system changes. History Tab provides information about system activity (Processes Start/End, Files Modification, Connections, System Events) Plugin System offers high customization of System Explorer. Users can choose what plugins wants to use. Developers can make new features. Multiple language support (English, Espanol, Deutsch, Portuguese, Japanese)
Process Explorer is very easy to use and understand yet it gives you a lot of advanced features for free! The latest version uses Spyware Terminator database to automatically check for any suspicious running process and you can easily upload the suspicious file to VirusTotal or Jotti to scan it with multiple antivirus.
Another feature that a lot of Task Manager replacement software don’t have is snapshot. Snapshot is very useful when you need to check for any files/registry being added, modified or removed in your system. Let’s say you’ve installed a trial software and would like to remove it complete from your computer. Unfortunately most of the uninstaller isn’t capable of removing all traces of the software. All you need to do is to create a snapshot before and after the software installation, compare the 2 snapshots to get a detailed report of file system and registry changes.
Just like a lot of Task Manager replacement software, you can easily replace your default Windows Task Manager with System Explorer by going to Options > Replace Task Manager. Normally we do not keep task or process manager software open. We only run it when we need to but if you want to keep System Explorer opened, I don’t see that as a problem because it only takes up 4MB in memory usage.