Windows Task Manager serves a purpose, but we recommend you replace it with Process Explorer for many reasons.  A few of the  reasons for using Process Explorer:

1. It is Free.

2. It easily integrates with VirtusTotal.

3. It shows process dependencies / process trees.

Here is the information Windows Task Manager shows you:

Windows Task Manager

Here’s the same information shown with Process Explorer:

Process Explorer

As you can see in Process Explorer – the process “Cain.exe” was flagged as malicious by 16 out of 54 Anti-malware vendors on VirusTotal.

How do you replace Windows Task Manager with Process Explorer?  Here are the steps:

1. Download Process Explorer or the entire Sysinternals Suite from here, the legit Microsoft site:

• Process Explorer

• Sysinternals

We recommend the Sysinternals Suite, as it has many other useful tools.

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2. After you extract either download in Step 1, run Process Explorer (procexe.exe) by double-clicking on it.

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3. After Process Explorer starts and you accept the EULA, go to File and choose Show Details for All Processes

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4. Go to Options and choose Replace Task Manager

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5. Go to Options and choose VirusTotal.com and select Check VirusTotal.com

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