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WinTasks
5 Professional
Reviewed
by: William
M. Frazier, October 2004, send
e-mail
Published
by: LIUtilities/Uniblue
Systems Ltd., go
to the web site
Requires: Windows
98/ME/2000 or XP, 400MHz or faster CPU, 32MB RAM, 5MB
free hard disk space
MSRP: $49.95
(download), $59.95 (retail box)
Have
you ever wondered what is happening with the programs running
on your computer? We can all tell if our machine is running
fast or slow. We also know when a once fast machine is
slowing down. Unfortunately most of us don't have a clue
as to why. WinTasks 5 Professional is a program designed
to help you answer these questions.
My first
impression was “Hey, this is just a glorified Windows
Task Manager”. That description doesn't do justice
to WinTasks 5 Professional. There is a lot more going on
here than just the list of what’s running and the
ability to end a task. The program allows you to identify
and eliminate unwanted tasks, such as spyware and trojans.
You can block a process from running or allow the computer
to run only a list of processes you select. Performance
enhancements include the ability to monitor CPU and memory
usage, control process priorities, and the ability to view
and change the programs that run when you first start the
computer.
The main
program window gives you a wealth of information. The very
top of the window contains the usual menu selections and
18 buttons that control various program functions. Just
below that is a list of all the processes running on the
computer. For each process you have a list that shows the
process name, the executable file and location of the process,
its priority, the number of threads presently assigned
to the process, the CPU and Memory usage, and the date
and time the process started. The lower left portion of
the window gives you the full name of the process and an
explanation of what it does. The lower right portion of
the screen is an area where you can enter and save personal
notes about an individual process. Finally, the very bottom
portion of the screen is devoted to stats showing the total
number of running processes and total CPU and memory usage.
One of the things
I like most about WinTasks is its ability to tell you
what each running program and background process
is supposed to do. For example, I've noticed the program
alg.exe in the Windows Task Manager before. The user name
listed is LOCAL SERVICE so I had no idea what this program’s
purpose was or who wrote it. When the same program is examined
with WinTasks Pro you find out that its name is Application
Layer Gateway Service, a part of the Microsoft Windows
operating system. You also find out that it is important
for stable and secure running of your computer and should
not be terminated. While it’s true that you could
get most of this information from the program’s properties
display in Windows, you would have to first find the file
on your computer, select it, and then call up the properties
window. With hidden files and directories this could be
a tedious and time consuming process.
There are too many tools and options in this program to
list them all in this review. The one I find most unusual
but useful is the ability to locate and remove a program
that has a fatal problem with memory leakage. If a program
has a memory leakage problem, the program can run for hours
without any noticeable difficulties. However, as the memory
usage nears 50% or so, your system crashes. If you run
multiple programs at once and your computer crashes after
hours of use, it is difficult to find out which program
might be suffering from a memory leak and causing the crash.
WinTasks Pro makes solving this problem much easier. Simply
open the Stats window, which shows a graph of CPU and Memory
usage over a user defined time frame from 1 minute to 24
hours. As you cycle through the running processes you can
easily identify the program that progressively consumes
more and more memory. It won't help you fix the problem
program, but you can identify it, stop it or remove it
if necessary.
I guess the
big question is whether or not this program is worth
the money. I think the answer is yes. You gain
an immense amount of control over your system with WinTasks
5 Professional. In fact, there is so much power that you
could mess things up if you're not careful. Even with this
slight drawback, I think WinTasks 5 Professional is a definite
buy for the technically inclined. I plan to leave it on
my system because of its ability to identify, locate and
remove spyware and to also monitor the files that end up
on my system’s Autostart list. Recommended.
Letters to the Editor are welcome and occasionally abused in public. Send e-mail to: whine@kickstartnews.com
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