How to manage too many processes? [Resolved]

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How to manage too many processes? [Resolved]

#1 Post by webfork »

I've got a system that has way too much going on. It has a ton of RAM and a 4-core processor but I'm still seeing serious lag just because of required background programs. Normally, I'd use DTaskManager, which has been great on my XP SP3 machine, to help raise / reduce the priority/affinity for the more / less important programs. However, this is an unsupported Win7x64 system. Any (ideally portable) suggestions to manage running programs?

Really need it to be able to save settings so that (for example) my indexing search program is always at "Below Normal" and WinSplit is always "Above Normal" while the program is running.

Suggestions?

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Re: How to manage too many processes?

#2 Post by Userfriendly »

Process Lasso? It has a portable version and sorta free.
http://bitsum.com/prolasso.php
http://bitsum.com/howfree.php

Then there's WinAFC which seems difficult to use.
http://affinitychanger.sourceforge.net/

My google-fu was stretched on this one. Other apps seemed abandoned or incompatible with x64 systems.

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Re: How to manage too many processes?

#3 Post by billon »

May be Prio? (not portable)
Have you ever changed the priority of a process in the Task Manager?
Do you have to do it often?
Do you want your database server or media player to know the priority it should work with?


Prio - Process Priority Saver. Free for personal use.

This compact program allows you to save the priority you specify for any process.

How to use -

Start the Task Manager.

Right-click a process and select Set Priority.

Set the priority you want for the process.
Image
Prio will save the applied changes and each time you start this process from now on, it will set the saved priority for it. You will not have to change the priority manually any more
What is the priority of an application?

Windows is a multitasking system. It means that a lot of various applications are running simultaneously in it. You directly work with some of them, but some of them work invisibly and independently. The priority of an application is a parameter that tells the system which task has priority over other tasks. For example, if there are two programs that are running simultaneously and with the same priority, they will have equal shares of the processor time. But in case you set a higher priority for one of them, the program that has this higher priority will use all the free processor time while the one with a lower priority will use only the rest of it. For example, if you have an application for rendering a video clip running on your computer, it will use the free processor time sharing it equally with, say, Explorer. It will result in Explorer working jerkily... But if you set a lower priority for the rendering program, it will use only the time that Explorer does not need. Explorer will work more smoothly and faster. It is also convenient to set a higher priority for multimedia players - the playback will be smoother. If you have some database service running on your computer, it is useful to set a lower priority for it so that it does not interfere with the work of those applications you are using at the moment. You can change the priority of processes on the Processes tab of Task Manager. Prio automatically detects any changes in priority and saves them in its settings. Next time you start this application, its priority will be restored.

Interface enhancements for the standard Task Manager.
Image
Prio enhances the standard Processes tab with useful tooltips containing detailed information about each running process: its name, manufacturer, version and full path to the executable file. It also shows which system services are currently running in each process, if there are any. Prio adds a check box specifying whether the priority of this application should be restored to the standard popup menu, as well as the command for switching to one of the services that are currently in this process.Besides, the digital signature of an executable file is verified for each process. Processes that possess such a signature will be highlighted in green, processes without a signature will be highlighted in red. If you are sure about the origin of a process while its executable file has no digital signature, you can mark is as valid using the "Treat As Valid" menu item and it will be highlighted in green. If the executable file of this process is changed, it will become red again.
I used it on my XP, and now use on Win7 x64.
Site - http://prnwatch.com/prio.html

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Re: How to manage too many processes?

#4 Post by freakazoid »

I don't want to sound like Mr. Obvious, but:

* Have you tried disabling all processes you don't need with services.msc?
* Have you closed all programs that are not necessary? If the programs are essential, try finding less resource and memory-hogging alternatives.
* Do you need to be running an indexing service all the time? Can't you have a program that you use on-demand for this?
is it stealth? ;)

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Re: How to manage too many processes?

#5 Post by I am Baas »


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Re: How to manage too many processes?

#6 Post by webfork »

Thanks for everyone's responses...
  • I tested out Process Hacker (thanks Baas), which I should have tried before posting this. Anyway, this would do the job perfectly but I can't get it to save the processor settings between sessions. If I was running a server that never really turned off, I would definitely use this.
  • Prio, although I'm using this on a machine that doesn't really qualify as personal, it's only $20. If I do put some money down on it, I'll ask the DEV to put together a portable version.
  • Lasso - I tested this on another system a while back and didn't see any real improvement so I hesitated to use it this time, but the circumstance is certainly different. I'll try this again if Prio doesn't do the trick.
  • Oddly, Dtaskmanager over at PortableApps for some reason lists support for Win7 and 8. Not sure how they did that since it's the same version number as the standard version. I dunno if that's a misprint or what, but I had to try...

    My odd results: I pulled it up to see what was working there and, although it does seem to work ok, you cannot change processor affinity and for some reason it's reverted to a 16-color only look. I set a process to a lower priority, checked the menu item to save settings, and restarted. When it returned, a box listing "processor affinity" was available but was all grayed out (couldn't select anything apart from cancel/ok). when I selected "OK" it said "must select at least one processor". Then, restarting again, it seemed to work okay (including affinity) but CPU isn't showing up.

    I guess the verdict for DTaskManager Portable at the moment is "buggy" for my Win7x64 system.
Last edited by webfork on Sat Feb 23, 2013 11:27 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: (some formatting, better wording)

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Re: How to manage too many processes?

#7 Post by webfork »

Forgot this bit:
freakazoid wrote: * Have you tried disabling all processes you don't need with services.msc?
* Have you closed all programs that are not necessary? If the programs are essential, try finding less resource and memory-hogging alternatives.
All set there.
freakazoid wrote:Do you need to be running an indexing service all the time? Can't you have a program that you use on-demand for this?
I still occasionally use Win7's only occasionally effective search, but I have no problem lowering it's priority.

My current plan (feedback welcome):
  • With various portable programs running on my system: Tools where immediate responses are necessary (ClipCube and WinSplit) - reduce affinity by 1, raise process priority. The rationale there is to give important programs more power, but with a ceiling (system will run those tasks first, but if they start to misbehave, they can still only get 75% of the system resources).
  • Less important processes (VoluMouse, AutoVer, PushMonitOff) are given both 1 or 2 processor Affinity, Low Priority. AutoVer probably at "Idle" since it's just a backup program.
Alternatively, if I can't find something to save my changes, the ability to batch modify priority/affinity would also work in the short term.

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Re: How to manage too many processes?

#8 Post by joby_toss »


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Re: How to manage too many processes?

#9 Post by SYSTEM »

webfork wrote: I tested out Process Hacker (thanks Baas), which I should have tried before posting this. Anyway, this would do the job perfectly but I can't get it to save the processor settings between sessions. If I was running a server that never really turned off, I would definitely use this.
Could you be more accurate? Process Hacker should give you an option to save the priority...
Save priority.gif
..and apply the priority every time when you restart Process Hacker.

Do you mean that it doesn't work or that you shouldn't be required to restart PH?
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Re: How to manage too many processes?

#10 Post by webfork »

SYSTEM wrote:Process Hacker should give you an option to save the priority...
Thanks for that -- didn't notice that bit. So far this is working well. Very happy right now (and more productive).

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Re: How to manage too many processes?

#11 Post by webfork »

webfork wrote:
SYSTEM wrote:Process Hacker should give you an option to save the priority...
Thanks for that -- didn't notice that bit. So far this is working well. Very happy right now (and more productive).
I don't know if it was rebooting or what that caused it but all my settings got dumped so I'll either contact the devs or test one of the other options. Anyway, I did some digging and it seems the devs actually recommend using Lasso rather than theirs: http://processhacker.sourceforge.net/fo ... =131&p=406

Would prefer to use something that's GPL'd to manage my system but I'm sure they have their reasons. As such, I'm currently testing Joby's suggestion.

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Re: How to manage too many processes?

#12 Post by SYSTEM »

webfork wrote: Anyway, I did some digging and it seems the devs actually recommend using Lasso rather than theirs: http://processhacker.sourceforge.net/fo ... =131&p=406
That thread is about I/O priority rather than CPU priority.
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Re: How to manage too many processes?

#13 Post by webfork »

SYSTEM wrote:That thread is about I/O priority rather than CPU priority.
Oh yes, quite right. Then I have no clue why it's dumping my settings between sessions. The save feature was added back in January.

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Re: How to manage too many processes? Solved.

#14 Post by webfork »

RESOLUTION:
Daphne appeared to do the trick: just right-click on an item and choose "Create Trap" and choose a priority. Then restart the program. Doesn't currently modify Affinity (useful on multi-core processors).

The trap function is also great for programs that you don't mind being run or having normal prioirty at startup (e.g. updater programs) but don't really need hanging around after that. Set Daphne to "Kill".

(Note: I only tested Daphne Portable)

Anyway, this is really helping my system manage all the garbage I've asked it to do. I have successfully done a Unix "renice" on my Windows machine. Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

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Re: How to manage too many processes? Solved.

#15 Post by webfork »

webfork wrote:Daphne appeared to do the trick
Just a note that I got onto another system bogged down by a bunch of nonsense and this trick REALLY helped cut down on an overwhelmed processor.

Edit: a related tool that can also help out: BES.

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