System Explorer, A Lightweight Task Manager Alternative

When we first reviewed System Explorer back in 2007, we came to the conclusion that it was a great Task Manager, Process Explorer and Autoruns hybrid. The developers of System Explorer have released version 3.8.0 yesterday, and I would like to use this release to publish an updated review here on Ghacks.

System Explorer is offered as a portable version and installer. The latest version brought full support for 64-bit operating systems, making the software compatible with all versions of Windows from Windows XP on.

When you first start System Explorer you get the option to run a security scan on the system. This optional scan checks all running processes against an online database. Results are then displayed in the Processes tab next to each process.

The program itself divides information into tabs at the top. The four tabs Tasks, Processes, Performance and History are displayed by default, with options to add new tabs with a click on the tab-bar’s plus icon. Here you can enable a good dozen additional services, from auto start entries to installed software, all open connections or installed system drivers.

The process manager displays all running processes in tree form by default so that you see dependencies right there. Each process is listed with its name, cpu and memory utilization, security status, process id and start up parameters if available. A filter at the top allows you to hide Microsoft process, services or processes from all users. A real time search lets you find process fast, and the convenient right-click context menu offers to check a file at online virus scanning services Virustotal or Jotti, or on Google, Process Library or the service’s own process database.

It is furthermore possible to change process affinities and priorities temporarily or permanently, and to end, suspend or restart processes right from within the interface.

The performance tab informs you about the processor and ram usage. One interesting aspect is the highlighting of the process that is taking up most of the system’s Ram and swap (which is Firefox in this case).

The autoruns tab displays all auto-start programs and scheduled tasks. You can hide Microsoft items here to get a better overview of third party programs that are run during system start.

You can disable programs that are loaded during log on with a single click.

You can configure System Explorer to replace the default Windows task manager. The program is then opened when you use the Ctrl-Alt-Esc hotkey to bring up the task manager.

System Explorer is one of the top task manager replacements for the Windows operating system. You can download the latest program version from the developer website.

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Windows 8 Task Manager, A Step In The Right Direction? About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.Author: Martin Brinkmann, Monday February 13, 2012 -
Tags:task-manager, windows software

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A Lightweight Transparent Calendar For Your Windows Desktop

When you want to look at a calendar in a default Windows installation the only option you have is to click on the clock in the lower right corner of the screen. And while that’s an option, it is not a very comfortable one if you need to look at the calendar regularly. The calendar on top of that does not provide any additional functionality that one would expect, for instance an option to set reminders.

You could use the calendar of a messaging software like Outlook or Thunderbird, or install a third party calendar like Desktop Calendar.

The free portable software displays the current date and the days of the current month on the desktop. The display is fully transparent which means that it fits nicely with any desktop background. When you first start the application you will notice that it is positioned in the upper left corner of the screen. You can move the calendar by holding down the shift key, and dragging and dropping the window to another location on the screen. Only the controls at the bottom of the calendar can be used for that.

Right-click the window afterwards and select save position from the menu to lock in it place there. Options in the same menu opens the application preferences. Here you can change the calendar font type, size and colors, spacing, the date format and other relevant preferences. Depending on the desktop background, font and size, you may need to experiment with the available color font colors to find one that is readable.

Edit Reminders is the third and final option available in the context menu. This allows you to set custom reminders, one-time or recurring, for birthdays, appointments and other events. New event types, along with their color code, can be defined in the program options.

The biggest issue that you may have with the program is that you cannot synchronize the data with online calendars or calendars in other applications. The portable nature of the application allows you however to synchronize the data between multiple computer systems.

You can download Desktop Calendar from Glenn Delahoy’s website. The program is fully compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system.

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Make Desktop Icons Transparent About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.Author: Martin Brinkmann, Tuesday January 10, 2012 -
Tags:calendar, desktop calendar, portable software, windows software

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