Free Programs

What's Running

Ever wonder if your PC is keeping secrets from you? Wonder no more. The freeware utility What's Running reveals all your system's active processes, services, drivers, and connections.

It's like Windows Task Manager, except far more informative. The cramped multipane interface is very hard to read, but even it has its good points: it lists processes in a parent-child hierarchy, not a bad way to accidentally spot malware. It also lets you choose which columns of information to display, and it makes stopping or prioritizing processes as simple as a mouse click--a right-click, to be precise. It even lets you control which programs launch at start-up.

Looks aside, What's Running ought to appeal to system administrators, support specialists, and tech-savvy home users who want to know precisely what their computer is up to.