1. Managing and monitoring the system by using Task Manager
Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 include a completely revamped Task Manager, which has been an effective troubleshooting tool for decades. Windows 8 Task
Manager provides significantly more complete status information and
information regarding the performance characteristics of Windows 8
native applications.
To access Task Manager, use one of the following methods:
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From the desktop, press and hold or right-click the taskbar and, from the shortcut menu, choose Task Manager.
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From the Power Users menu, choose Task Manager.
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From the Start screen, start typing Task Manager and then tap or click the Task Manager icon.
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Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete and choose Task Manager.
Regardless of the method you use, the outcome is the same; the Task Manager utility, shown in Figure 1, opens. To open a window like the one shown in Figure 1, tap or click More Details in Task Manager.
The main window of Task Manager includes elements that can aid you
in your monitoring and troubleshooting efforts. Included on the screen
are multiple tabs, each displaying critical system performance and
resource usage information. Each of these tabs is described in this
section.
The Processes
tab provides you with a single location from which to view all the
software running on the system, down to the application and even
document or instance level. In Figure 1,
you can see this level of detail. The Processes tab lists all the
actual Windows applications that are running on the target system. If
an application is running more than one instance of itself—for example,
if you have more than one Word document open—an arrow appears next to
the application. Select the arrow to expand the application list and
display the individual instances that are running for the selected app.
Figure 1 shows Windows Explorer expanded and three Windows Explorer instances running, each with a different purpose.
The information on this tab is important. You can view exactly how
much of the system resources a particular application is using,
although this information is available only at the actual app level,
not at the instance level. The displayed information is a real-time
snapshot and changes as circumstances change.
In general, Windows 8 system resources are divided into the
following categories, each of which is shown in a column on the
Processes tab:
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CPU The CPU
metric displays the percentage of system processor resources currently
dedicated to servicing this application. If an application is sitting
idle due to a small workload, this might be zero even when the
application is running.
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Memory
The memory column
displays the amount of system RAM dedicated to the application. System
RAM is often one of the most limiting factors in system performance, so
watch this one if you or one of your users is experiencing system
troubles.
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Disk In the context of Task Manager, the Disk
metric does not display how much storage space is being consumed by an
application. Instead, this metric provides insight into a second
critical, storage-related metric: transfer speed. This column of
information outlines how much information is being transferred to and
from the disk.
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Network
Although today’s
networks are generally extremely fast, network resources remain a
source of contention at times. In years past, a computer might be able
to get through an entire day without accessing the network, but today’s
modern systems and applications are quite network-centric. In Task
Manager, Windows details how much network capacity is dedicated to each
app.
At the top of each resource
column, you can see the total commitment level for each individual
resource. As commitment levels reach sustained high levels, system
performance can begin to suffer.
The Processes tab is useful when you’re attempting to correct system
performance or some other issue. For example, if a user reports that
her computer is running very slowly, you can open Task
Manager and quickly see whether any process is using a large percentage
of the CPU. If so, discontinuing that process might be necessary. This
is known as ending the process or ending the task.
To end a process in Windows, complete the following steps:
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Use Task Manager to identify the process you want to end.
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Press and hold or right-click the task in question.
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From the resulting shortcut menu, choose End Task.
Windows does not warn you that you’re about to end a process; it just carries out your request and ends the task.
Important
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU END
Although generally you can safely end most application processes
without affecting the stability of the system, be cautious when you end
system background processes. Ending these processes can destabilize the system, and you might need to restart.
Further, even though system stability might not be affected by
ending an application process, you might lose data by doing so. When
you end an application process, you aren’t provided an opportunity to
save your work. Save early and save often but also be careful as you
end processes.
On the Performance tab, you can get more high-level information quickly about the operation of the system. In Figure 2,
note that you can switch between the four major resource areas and see
how those resources are currently being used. In the figure, the CPU
information is displayed. Out of 2.59 GHz of available processing
power, this Windows 8 PC is currently using about 36 percent of the
total available CPU.
In addition to current performance statistics, you see deep
information about the overall capabilities of the processor. In this
example, the computer has a single processor with dual cores, and
hardware virtualization extensions are enabled.
The Performance tab also gives you information about memory, disk performance, and the network, just as you saw on the Processes
tab. However, as is the case with the CPU information, you can glean a
lot more information here than you can on the Processes tab.
The Memory option displays the current usage of the system’s total
memory. This system has 3.1 GB assigned, 1.6 GB of which is in use.
This tab also provides you with information about paged and non-paged
memory. Given the importance of RAM on a Windows 8 system, being able
to obtain detailed statistics for how it’s used can be invaluable in
troubleshooting efforts. If you’re seeing RAM usage consistently
exceeding 90 percent, you might need to consider adding more RAM to the
computer.
The Disk option displays the current statistics for the various disk
drives that are installed in the Windows 8–based computer, including:
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Active Time
This metric shows
the percentage of time the disk is actually active. The higher the
number, the harder the disk is working. If this statistic is constantly
high, consider adding additional disks to the computer to alleviate the
burden.
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Average Response Time
From a performance
standpoint, average response time is the most critical metric for you
to track. This key metric tells you immediately whether you’re having
disk-based performance issues that could be affecting the user
experience. In general, if you see constant values exceeding 20 to 25
ms in this field, that’s cause for concern. Other factors can affect
this metric, but response time is key in determining how the system is
operating.
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Read Speed
This metric displays the speed at which the system is reading data from storage.
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Write Speed
This metric displays the speed at which the system is sending data to storage to be written.
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Capacity/Formatted
The capacity and formatted fields display the total size of the disk
and the size of the disk after it’s been formatted. Some disks use
different mathematical computations to determine post-formatting
capacity.
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System Disk
Is the disk a system disk? If so, it requires careful monitoring.
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Page File
Does the disk host
the system’s paging file? The disk that holds the paging file might
require a little more performance if memory conditions become low and
the system starts paging to disk.
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Transfer Rate
The graph in the
middle of the window displays the total speed at which data is being
transferred between the computer and the disk.
Finally, the Ethernet option displays basic information about how
the network is operating. A graph displays current network usage, and
counters at the bottom of the window display the amount of data that
has been sent or received using this adapter.
Your Windows 8–based computer might have slightly different items on the Performance
tab. For example, if you have multiple disks or multiple network
adapters, you will also see information for those additional devices.