Remote Task Manager: The 5 Best Tools We Tested in 2023 (2023)

One of the first things any savvy user would do if they suspect that something is slowing down their computer, or that a suspicious malware program might be running in the background, is to press Ctrl+Shift+Escape to open theWindows Task Manager. From there, you can see what's running and detect if any programs are using too much CPU time or memory, or look suspicious and shouldn't be there. While the Windows Task Manager is a valuable tool, there are better ones.alternative task management toolsout there that you can use to replace it.

Using the built-in task management tool or a third-party task manager on your local computer is great, but what if you have more than one computer on your network to keep an eye on? Process Explorer, Process Hacker or System Explorer, etc. they cannot show what is running on another computer; so normally if there is something that needs to be checked you would have to physically go to that computer and see or kill any process.

Fortunately, there are ways to remotely access other computers on your local network, and you can also view and manipulate processes on another computer without leaving yours. Here, we show you 5 ways to view and manage the tasks of another computer remotely.

1.Remote Process Explorer

Lizardsystems' Remote Process Explorer is a popular free application for viewing and manipulating processes running on a remote computer. It is completely free for home and non-commercial use. You need a free registration code to use the free version, visit theregistration pageand enter your name, email, city and country. Once you receive the code in your inbox, enter it in Help > Enter registration code.

Although it runs through Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), Remote Process Explorer is quite comprehensive in what it displays and what it can do. In addition to viewing very detailed information for each remote process, you can kill, execute, and also change the priority of a remote process. You can even check a box and have the related process record its memory and CPU usage via a graph in the main window.

On first launch, the program will ask you to run the Wizard, which will detect which computers are on the network, or you can go straight to the main interface and set things up yourself. Assuming you've run the wizard and detected the target computer, right-click the computer list on the left > Connect as > The following user, enter the remote username and password, and click OK.

The Processes and OSInfo tabs should now be populated with the remote computer's information. Remote Process Explorer also has some administrative tools for remote management. You can shut down, browse, open the computer's Administration or Services consoles, open Event Viewer, open a Remote Desktop session or send a message, etc.

Although Remote Process Explorer is not portable, it canextract the setup installer with Universal Extractorand save the contents of the {app} folder to make it a portable version.

Download Remote Process Explorer

2.Desktop Central Free Windows Tools

ManageEngine manufactures various enterprise software applications for remote operations, corporate networks, and business solutions. They also have a suite called Desktop Central designed for large networks, but a free version has been made available that contains many individual components of the core suite.

There are a total of 12 tools in the free package, including Software Inventory to get a remote list of installed software, Wake on LAN, Remote Command Prompt, Remote Shutdown and Reboot Tool, HDD Space Detector, Battery from the laptop and what we're looking for here, Remote Task Manager.

Although basic, Remote Task Manager is capable of displaying a list of processes running on the remote machine and allows you to remove a process from the list. Just enter the remote username and password in the boxes, then add the remote computer name or IP in the Domain Name and Computer Name boxes, and finally click the Get Process button.

The window will populate with the list of processes on the remote machine, hovering over a process to select it, clicking "End Process" will allow you to end any highlighted process. The icons above are for updating the list and choosing additional columns of information. While you need to initially install the free Windows tools to run Remote Task Manager, you can copy RemoteTaskManager.exe from your Program Files folder and use it as a portable tool, then uninstall the package again.

Download free Windows tools from Desktop Central

3.remote process viewer

Remote Process Viewer is a very simple program that provides a list of all processes running on a remote computer. One useful bonus is that it's also a standalone portable executable of around 600KB that doesn't need to be installed, although if you want to do more than just preview what's running on the target computer, you'll need to use something a bit more powerful.

Since it uses WMI to collect your information, you'll need to make sure that WMI is allowed through your firewall (see below). Then all you have to do is provide the name or IP address of the remote computer or use the Browse button to find the computer on the network, provide the username and password of the connected remote user, and finally click on "Verify now."

After a few seconds, the main window should be filled with the name of the process, its folder, ID, memory used, CPU time, priority, and other related information. Clicking on a process will allow you to search for that specific process name via File.net and the Google button. The popup is not useful and just points to an evaluation of the shareware network task manager.

Download remote process viewer

4.Yet another process monitor (remote)

Also known as YAPM, this is a feature-rich program, and in addition to being able to view processes on the local or remote computer, it can also perform a number of other remote functions. These include killing existing processes or opening new ones, starting, stopping, creating, or disabling services, viewing and closing remote network connections, and the ability to show, maximize/minimize, or close currently open tasks.

YAPM has two main modes of remote operation; Connection via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) or using the YAPM server. Using WMI is much easier and requires nothing more than making sure the connection to the remote machine works. However, it has the disadvantage that it does not support as many features as task management, monitoring, and network management.

The YAPM server enables all the remote functions available in the program, but YAPM needs to run on the remote machine in server mode to work, which you may not be able to do. Unless you need the additional features of the YAPM server, it is recommended to start with WMI mode.

To configure WMI, start the program and click the round button Settings > Change connection type. Click "Remote via WMI", enter the remote computer name or IP address, username and password, click Disconnect and do the same button again to connect to the remote machine. This will populate the relevant YAPM windows with processes and services where you can view, start, stop, and collect information about each item. It also has a portable version.

Download another process monitor (remote)

5.View and kill tasks remotely from the command prompt

Windows has several built-in command line utilities to perform various tasks, and two useful tools for this job are "Tasklist" and "Taskkill". If you open an administrator command prompt (press Start, type cmd, press Ctrl+Shift+Enter) and type task list, it will give you a list of processes running on your computer. However, it can be used to get the task list of a remote computer with some additional arguments, these are:

Task list /S remote system (name or IP address) /U username /P password

Be sure to include anything in quotes that has a space in the name. This will provide a list of remote process names running on the target computer along with their process identifier (PID) and memory usage. Killing a process in the list is accomplished with the taskkill command which has a syntax similar to tasklist:

Taskkill /S remote system /U username /P password /IM Process

Just add the name of the process (including .exe) or the PID number you want to kill along with the "/IM" argument after the computer name, username, and password. If it works, a SUCCESS message will be displayed. If the process does not terminate, try adding /F to the end of the line to force the process to exit. Of course, some processes cannot be terminated, such as those that are critical to the system or security software, etc.

Requirements to enable process visualization and remote control

Unless you've enabled your system to remotely view processes before, there are a few requirements that need to be met for tools like these to work on a local network.

Observation:If you have an edition of Windows Home or Basic, such as XP Home, Vista/7 Basic, or Home Premium, remote management is disabled on these versions, so you can't see or control processes on another computer. However, you can connect to these versions from a Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate version of Windows.

– You must be an administrator or have administrator privileges to connect to the remote machine.

– Make sure the computer you are connecting to has a password on your user account, blank passwords will NOT work. Go to Control Panel > User Accounts > Create a password for the user if necessary.

– Make sure simple file sharing is disabled in Windows XP. Go to Control Panel > Folder Options > View tab > Scroll right to the bottom in Advanced Settings > Uncheck "Use Simple File Sharing".

– Make sure that a file and printer sharing exception is allowed in the firewall by going to Start > Run > and typing:

netsh firewall set service type=FILEANDPRINT mode=enable

– With programs that use Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) to collect data from the remote computer, you must ensure that WMI is allowed through any active firewalls. An RPC server error is common if WMI is being blocked by a firewall. For third-party firewalls, TCP port 135 needs permission. For Windows Firewall, enter the following command at the administrator command prompt for Vista, 7, and 8:

netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group="Windows Management Instrumentation (wmi)" new enable = yes

Alternatively, go to Windows Firewall in Control Panel, click "Allow a program or feature through Windows Firewall" and check "Windows Management Instrument (WMI)". Click OK.

To use the Windows XP firewall:

netsh firewall packet service Enable RemoteAdmin

If you're still having trouble connecting to the remote computer, you may need to temporarily disable any firewalls or other security software and try connecting.