STFU && RTFM

A while back, I was tipped off about an application called Glary Utilities, billed as “The #1 free, powerful and all-in-one utility in the world market!” This piqued my interest, and I installed it, deciding to try it out, as it has received favorable reviews from several places, including CNet.
 
The installation is just as simple as it should be, the only annoyance is that it offers to install the Ask.com toolbar, as well as set ask.com as the default search provider. While I harbor no antipathies towards ask.com, I don’t particularly like toolbars that don’t add any new functionality.
 
According to GlarySoft, Glary Utilities offer a wide array of functionality, from system optimization to spyware removal. The main window looks like this:
 

 
It looks to me like they might be trying to do too many things in one utility, but all in all, it looks like a decent tool, and can be found here.

Windows Task Manager is a decent enough tool, but it doesn’t really give you all that much information, nor is it always able to do what you need it to, such as end certain processes. By default, the Processes view looks something like this:

 
While this is enough for most users, it isn’t always enough information, nor capability, for techies. A wonderful little company called SysInternals, now owned by Microsoft, has made a wonderful little utility called Process Explorer. Let’s have a look at the information it gives us: 

 
Not only does it feature tree-structure of processes, but it also features windows to show live data and history of CPU usage, Commit history and I/O Bytes. Clicking any of these windows will display a full system information window, as shown below. These features are only the tip of the iceberg of what should make Process Explorer an essential part of any techie tool kit. 

In my job as a support technician, I use a plethora of different tools. I have collected the most useful ones in a list on my website, www.razumny.no.
 
For direct access to the list, go here.
 
I hope you find this useful.

Process Explorer
Originally uploaded by razumny

At a technical seminar, I was introduced to the magic of Process Explorer, a tool developed by SysInternals (now a Microsoft-owned company), which picks up where the taskmanager leaves off.
 
Found here, it is contained within a 1.5 MB zip-file, and it runs without installation.
 
At a glance, I am very simply put impressed. It is an intuitive and very strong tool, and it works admirably.