YOU’LL NEED THIS
ANY WINDOWS PC
Process Explorer (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer)
IN THIS FIRST TUTORIAL in a new series showcasing how to get more from your Windows 11 setup, we’re starting with a detailed look at what’s going on under the hood of your machine. You may not currently care that, behind the scenes, your Windows installation is performing a complicated juggling routine involving a tangled web of applications, services, processes, threads, and handles, but we suspect that outlook will change the moment your system starts to slow down, become non-responsive, or prone to crashing.
Knowledge is power, and there are two primary tools that can help you peer behind the scenes to determine what’s going on, identify areas of concern, and even in some cases, restore non-responsive applications to life without force-quitting them and losing hours of unsaved work. The first, Task Manager, is built into Windows itself and has all the tools you need to resolve most problems, but if you need an even deeper dive into your PC’s software innards, then Process Explorer is the tool for you.
Armed with these tools, you’ll discover how to monitor and free up system resources, track down troublesome processes, and generally keep your PC running a bit more smoothly. So, without further ado, let’s pull back the curtain…
1 QUICK-FIRE ORIENTATION
Let’s start
