Everyone knows what the task manager is, the historical Windows tool that allows you to see active processes on your computer . By right-clicking on the toolbar, you can open the task manager which, in Italian Windows 7, is called Task Manager.
When a program crashes or if a window freezes and no longer reacts to commands, the easiest way to solve the problem is to forcefully close the program, ending the process in the task manager.
In Windows 95 and 98, the shortcut key combination to open the task manager was the famous CTRL + ALT + DEL .
In XP, Vista and Windows 7 the task manager can be called up with the CTRL + SHIFT + ESC keys.
We had seen, in another article, the best Task Manager programs to manage Windows processes and activities in a more precise and detailed way than the default tool does.
Now let's see how to open the task manager in Microsoft Excel in a very curious and useful table sheet.
It should be remembered that the creators of malware and viruses design malicious software to block the user from running the Task Manager.
Some smarter malware can also block or limit external programs like Process Explorer.
So here is where it can be useful to open the list of processes in Excel which, in addition to being an interesting and curious way to use this powerful Office program, also provides a practical function.
This Excel sheet works through the Macros that make the interaction between the system and MS Excel possible.
To view the Windows task manager in Excel just download the TaskManager.xls file created by Didier Stevens.
This normal Excel sheet has two buttons, one for viewing processes and then the task manager, the other for executing commands on these processes to terminate or suspend them.
To use the Taskmanager.xls, you need to enable macros on Excel which, by default, are disabled.
If Macros are disabled, the " Failed to run macro " error will be generated.
Once you open the xls file with Excel 2003, 2007 or 2010, you can press the List Processes button to list all the processes running and active on your computer.
The commands to be executed can be written in an empty column on the left.
You can put an s to pause the process, an t to end it, an r to reactivate the suspended process.
Once these commands have been written, you can press the Execute key.
TaskManager.xls is unable to terminate protected processes.
TaskManager.xls is very useful but unfortunately it does not work in OpenOffice and LibreOffice and not even on the Excel Viewer program.
TaskManager.xls can also be used to have a printable list of jobs or to send to someone.
This tool is a must for IT technicians and a nice curiosity for everyone else.
