14 DAY TRIAL // While most Windows users rely on Task Manager to get information about the processes running on their devices, Microsoft actually offers a more advanced tool specifically created with this goal in mind.
It’s called Process Explorer and is part of Sysinternals, a suite of utilities that power users absolutely love.
The most recent version of Process Explorer, which updates the app to version 17.0, comes with one big addition. A dark mode is finally available, therefore allowing Process Explorer to align with the rest of the operating system in terms of looks.
“This update to Process Explorer, an advanced process, DLL and handle viewing utility, adds dark theme support, multipane view in the main window with a new threads pane, startup performance optimization and more,” the official changelog reads.
Process Explorer is for many people a must-have application, especially when IT pros want to get more information about a process and the linked DLL files in a straightforward manner.
Microsoft has a very detailed description about Process explorer, explaining that its app makes it really easy to track down DLL-related problems and handle leaks.
“The Process Explorer display consists of two sub-windows. The top window always shows a list of the currently active processes, including the names of their owning accounts, whereas the information displayed in the bottom window depends on the mode that Process Explorer is in: if it is in handle mode you'll see the handles that the process selected in the top window has opened; if Process Explorer is in DLL mode you'll see the DLLs and memory-mapped files that the process has loaded. Process Explorer also has a powerful search capability that will quickly show you which processes have particular handles opened or DLLs loaded,” the company explains in the description of the app.