11.1.3.4 Lab – Work with Task Manager (Answers) – ITE v7.0

11.1.3.4 Lab – Work with Task Manager

Instructor Note: Red font color or gray highlights indicate text that appears in the Instructor copy only.

Introduction

In this lab, you will explore Task Manager and manage processes from within Task Manager.

Required Resources

• A computer running Windows

Instructions

Step 1: Applications tab.

a. Log on to Windows as an administrator.

b. Open a web browser and a folder.

c. Click Start and type task manager in the search field. Press Enter to open the Task Manager utility.

Note: For Windows 8.x, use the charms menu and then click the search icon. Type task manager and press Enter to open the Task Manager utility.

d. Click Fewer details if available to view the list of open applications.

e. To force the web browser to close, highlight the browser, and click End task.

Question:

What happened?

The browser window closed, and it is no longer listed in Task Manager.

f. Open the web browser again. Right-click the web browser in the Task Manager.

Question:

What options are available?

Answers may vary. Windows 7: Switch To, Bring To Front, Minimize, Maximize, End Task, Create Dump File and Go To Process. Windows 8.x: Switch to, End task, Run new task, Always on top, Open file location, Search online, Properties. Windows 10: End task, Run new task, Always on top, Search online.

Step 2: Services tab.

a. Click More Details at the bottom-left corner of Task Manager. Note: It is not available in Windows 7.

b. Click the Services tab. Use the scroll bar on the right side of the Services window to view all the services listed

Question:

What statuses are listed?

Stopped and Running.

c. Right-click on one of the services listed.

Question:

What are the available actions that can be taken?

Answers may vary, but may include start, stop, restart, open services, search online, etc.

Step 3: Performance tab.

a. Click the Performance tab. Select CPU to view the utilization in the left panel. Note: There is no CPU option in the Performance tab in Windows 7.

Questions:

What is the current utilization of the CPU?

Answer may vary. The example displays 23%.

How many streams of instructions (i.e. Threads) are currently running?

Answer may vary. The example displays 491.

How many Apps, Background processes, and Windows processes (i.e Processes) are currently running?

Answer may vary. The example displays 37.

b. Click on the Memory Chart in the left panel of the Performances tab. Note: There is no CPU option in the Performance tab in Windows 7.

Question:

What is the total physical memory (MB)?

Answer may vary. The example shows 2GB (above memory chart on right).

What is the available physical memory (MB)?

Answer may vary. The example displays 1.3 GB.

How much physical memory (MB) is being used by the computer?

Answer may vary. 669 MB.

c. Click the Ethernet Chart in the left panel of the Performances tab. Note: There is no Ethernet option in the Performance tab in Windows 7. Click the Networking tab in Windows 7 for the Ethernet information.

Questions:

What is the link speed? What type of Ethernet Adapter is in use on this computer?

Answer may vary. The example shows that it is Ethernet.

What type of network connection (i.e Connection type) is in use?

Answers may vary but can include Ethernet, 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, etc

What is the IPv4 address of the PC? Note: This information is not available in the Networking tab in Windows 7.

Answer may vary. The examples shows 192.168.55.60.

Note: You can click Open Resource Monitor to bring up the Resource Monitor utility from the Performance tab in Task Manager to view the individual processes, services, and applications utilizing system resources.

Step 4: Processes tab.

a. Click the Processes tab.

b. Click the Memory heading. Click the Memory heading a second time.

Question:

What effect does this have on the columns?

Clicking the Memory heading causes the processes to be sorted by the amount of memory each process is using. Each time you click the Memory heading, it reverses the order (largest to smallest, then smallest to largest).

c. Right-click on the Memory heading, and then select Resource values > Memory > Percents. 

Note: Resource values options are not available in Windows 7.

Questions:

What affect does this have on the Memory column?

The column now displays memory usage in percentage values.

How could this be useful?

Displaying processes in this way can assist an administrator in determining what services may be causing memory issues by showing how much available memory is being used by each service.

d. Open a web browser.

e. Return to the Task Manager. Click the Name heading.

Note: The category options are not available in Windows 7.

Question:

The listed processes are divided by categories. What categories are listed?

Answers may vary. The example shows 3 categories: Apps, Background processes, and Windows processes.

f. Select the web browser, and click End Task.

g. Close all open windows.

Step 5: Users tab.

a. Click the Users tab to list the usernames who are logged into the system.

b. Right-click a username. What are the available options?

Answers may vary. Windows 7: Send Message, Disconnect, and Log Off. Windows 8.x and 10: Expand, Disconnect, and Manage user accounts.

c. In Windows 8.x and 10, right-click Expand to view all the processes associated with this user.

Step 6: Startup, App history and Details tabs.

Note: These tabs are not available in Windows 7.

a. The Startup tab lists the processes that are started automatically during Windows startup. Click the Startup tab. Right-click a process and list the available options below.

Answer may vary. Disable, Open file location, Search online, and Properties.

b. The App history tab lists the historical resources usage.

Question:

What type of information can you get from this list?

Answer may vary. CPU time, network data usage, and data uploads and downloads

c. The Details tab displays process information such as process ID (PID), status, and memory utilization. Right-click a process and list the available options below.

Answer may vary. End task, End process tree, Set priority, Set affinity, Analyze wait chain, UAC virtualization, Create dump file, Open file location, Search online, Properties, and Go to service(s).

Reflection Question

Why is it important for an administrator to understand how to work within the Task Manager?

Answers may vary. The Task Manager can be a valuable tool for an administrator when troubleshooting problems with a Windows PC. It provides information about CPU, memory, disk, and network usage. It also provides a way to end tasks or cancel processes.