This guide will show you how to get very detailed information about any app or process running on your Windows computer.
- Download the excellent (small and completely free) Process Explorer and double-click the zip file to open it.
- Click the Extract All button in the Menu Bar.
- For the time being, let’s extract the files to your Downloads folder – we can move it later. So just click the Extract button without changing anything.
- Now you’ll find a new folder named ProcessExplorer in your Downloads folder. Open it up. If you’re using a 32bit version of Windows, double-click the file named procexp.exe. If you’re using a 64bit version of Windows, double-click the file named procexp64.exe. If you’re not sure which version of Windows you’re using, we have a brief guide that explains how to determine if you’re using a 32bit or 64bit version of Windows.
- Click the Agree button on the Licence Agreement window.
- Process Explorer will now open up and display a list of every single process running on your computer.
- Select File and then Show Details for All Processes
- In the example screenshot below, I selected a file with the rather unhelpful name RtkNGUI64.exe. By looking at the Description and Company fields I was able to quickly identify that file as the RealTek HD Audio Manager – software used to control my audio.
- For even more detailed information on any given Windows process, right-click the item in question and select Properties…
- From here you can find out everything about the process you could possibly want to know :)
- Don’t forget about that ProcessExplorer folder (in your Downloads folder), especially if you think you might use the Process Explorer app again. You can move it to somewhere like your Program Files folder and then create a shortcut to the app from there.