Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Windows XP in 24 Hours

By Greg Perry

• Table of Contents
  • Copyright
  • About the Author
  • Acknowledgments
  • Tell Us What You Think!
  • Introduction
  • Part I: Wake Up with Windows XP
  • Hour 1. Taking a Bird's-Eye Look at Windows XP
  • Hour 2. Getting Started with Windows XP
  • Hour 3. Managing the Windows XP Interface
  • Part II: Morning Windows Desktop Exploration
  • Hour 4. Working with the My Computer Window
  • Hour 5. Navigating Files with Windows Explorer
  • Hour 6. Calling for Help
  • Hour 7. Improving Your Windows Desktop Experience
  • Part III: Early Afternoon Windows Exploration
  • Hour 8. Installing Programs with Windows XP
  • Hour 9. Finding Files, Folders, and Friends
  • Hour 10. Using the Desktop Accessories
  • Part IV: Late Afternoon Internet Integration
  • Hour 11. Surfing the Web with Internet Explorer
  • Hour 12. Tying Windows into the Web
  • Hour 13. Networking with Windows XP
  • Hour 14. Managing E-mail and Newsgroups with Outlook Express
  • Part V: An Evening with Advanced Windows
  • Hour 15. Exploring Your Hardware Interface
  • Hour 16. Understanding Printing and Fonts
  • Hour 17. Using Windows on the Road
  • Hour 18. Giving Windows XP a Tune-Up
  • Hour 19. Managing Your Hard Drives
  • Hour 20. Tinkering with the Advanced System Tools
    • Check Your System
    • Dr. Watson, Come Right Away
    • Using the Task Manager
    • Scheduling System Tasks
    • Using System Restore
    • Summary
    • Q&A
    • Workshop
  • Part VI: Having Fun at Nighttime
  • Hour 21. Using Media Player
  • Hour 22. Picturing Windows XP Graphics
  • Hour 23. Making Movies with Windows XP
  • Hour 24. Advanced Windows XP Tips
  • Part VII: Appendixes
  • Appendix A. Differences Between the Windows Home and Professional Edition
  • Appendix B. Glossary
  • Appendix C. Answers to Quizzes

Using the Task Manager

Windows XP includes a new Task Manager program that shows you what's happening in your computer and specifies where memory and CPU is being utilized the most. Although the use of the Task Manager is fairly advanced (as are many areas of the Dr. Watson program), the Task Manager does enable you to stop programs that have frozen up and to monitor applications that might be consuming more memory than you want to let them have.

To Do: Using the Task Manager

1. Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to display the Task Manager, similar to the one shown in Figure 20.6.
2. The Task Manager's Applications page shows all currently running programs. You can click a program to highlight it and click the End Task button to close any running program. Always attempt to close every program through the program's menus before resorting to the Task Manager to ensure that all your data is saved properly. Some programs, however, seem to get confused and freeze up, requiring you to resort to the Task Manager to close them.
   

   Figure 20.6 Use the Task Manager to monitor running programs and resources.

3. When you click the Processes tab, the Task Manager shows all currently loaded processes. A process can be an application program, but unlike the Task Manager's Application page, the Processes page shows all operating system tasks that are currently running. That includes all foreground and background processes, the Windows XP processes that control the taskbar, program launching, and everything else that Windows must keep track of. Only in extreme circumstances should a knowledgeable user cancel a running process. Inadvertently stopping a critical operating system process could cause Windows XP to become unstable.

4. Click the Performance tab to display the Performance graphs shown in Figure 20.7.

   The Performance page shows you how much CPU time is currently being consumed. If you are running too many programs and your system seems to become too slow, you can check the Task Manager's Performance page to determine if you are overusing CPU cycles. If so, you can then click the Processes tab to determine which process is consuming the most time. If the process comes from a program you've started, and you can do without that program currently, you can switch to that program and close it. Otherwise, if you need the results of the top-heavy program, you might want to close other program windows to devote more CPU time to the important one.

   The Memory Usage History chart shows how much of your available computer memory is used. You can perform a task, such as sorting a large database, and then switch to the Task Manager to see if you have ample memory resources. If the program consumes too much memory, you run the risk of Windows running out of memory and having to shut down. Fortunately, Windows XP manages memory better than previous versions of Windows, and Windows XP will not have the same memory constraints that many other Windows versions ran into after running for a few hours.

   

   Figure 20.7 See your CPU and memory usage graphically.

5. Click the Networking and Users tabs to see the remaining two Task Manager pages. If you're on a networked system, the Network page shows how many resources your network connection is consuming; the Users page shows the status of each user who might currently be using Windows XP.

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