3.1.4 Lab: The Task Manager

Learning Exercise:

Using Microsoft Windows operating system, follow these steps:

• Bring up the Task Manager by pressing ALT+CTRL+DELETE (if this step does not work, use the online help feature of the operating system to find out how to invoke the task manager). You should see a list of application and operating system processes currently running. Some of these names may appear cryptic; these typically make up a list of processes that are part of the operating system or automated environment.

• Start some application and you will see it added to the list of processes. You can also use the Task Manager to kill a process. This might be necessary if the process becomes "hung" or stalled, and will not respond when you try to close the application window. A stalled program is indicated by a "Not Responding" message after the process name in the Task Manager. Be careful, though: if you kill one of the operating system's processes, your computer may no longer function properly, although rebooting should correct the problem.

If you are using Windows NT/2000/XP, follow these steps:

• Bring up the Task Manager window by pressing ALT+CTRL+DELETE and clicking the Task Managerbutton.

• Select the Applications tab. You should see a list of all applications currently running.

• Now select the Processes Tab. Then, on the View menu, click Select Columns, and check the Page Faultsand Thread Count boxes. You can uncheck some of the other boxes if you wish. Then clickOK.

• While keeping the Task Manager window visible (you may want to scroll down to the bottom if there is a long list of active processes), start up a new process, or make active a process that is already running. You should see the number of page faults and the CPU usage figures increase. Now click the Performance tab, and you will see graphs of processor and memory usage.

• Start some applications and you will see the processor and memory resource demands that they place on the system. You can also use the Task Manager to kill a process. This might be necessary if the process becomes "hung" or stalled, and will not respond when you try to close the application window. Be careful, though: if you kill one of the operating system's processes, your computer may no longer function properly, although rebooting should correct the problem.

Reading Sequence:

• 3.2.1 Interrupt Handling. Learning Goal: An understanding of how the operating system responds to interrupts. An interrupt is a signal to the processor that an important event has occurred.

• 3.2.2 Hardware Attributes. Learning Goal: An understanding of how a driver can be replaced with a more recent version and where the data that customizes the operating system's actions for a particular hardware device or user environment is kept.

• 3.2.3 Configuration. Learning Goal: Knowledge of how a user can customize the functionality of a Windows system via the Control Panel and other facilities.

• 3.2.4 Lab: Device Management. Learning Goal: Experience viewing and modifying your operating system environment to meet your specific needs.

Assessments:

• Multiple-Choice Quiz 9