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It sometimes occurs to me that some of the running applications in Windows 8 stop responding. In windows 7 there was an option of going to task manager and right click on a program's icon and go to its process and then right click on the process and end it. But in Windows 8's task manager only the process shows and then option on the right click is end task. It doesn't end the process if the program is not responding.

Is there any way I can force-close the applications that are not responding (One solution i use is restarting the PC).

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3 Answers 3

Reset to default
7

Do you mean End process tree in Details tab of windown 8

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  • Does it force close the not responding applications?
    – mbaljeetsingh
    Aug 30, 2013 at 15:24
  • @BaljeetSingh Yes.
    – w4etwetewtwet
    Aug 30, 2013 at 17:39
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    I could be wrong, but based on my experience, I don't think there is any significant difference in the way Windows 7 and Windows 8 works with regards to the End task process. They both can end most applications, but a process can get into a state that neither O/S will do this from the task manager and you have to use taskkill /F or process explorer or something similar. For example, the same problem but on windows 7 has been described at techrepublic.com/blog/windows-and-office/…
    – sgmoore
    Aug 30, 2013 at 17:49
  • Actually, Details tab is the good old Processes tab in disguise. And Applications tab was renamed to Processes.
    – gronostaj
    Aug 31, 2013 at 7:41
  • Some fullscreen games won't allow you to click on the Task Manager window. Is there a shortcut to kill programs directly?
    – E. Rivera
    Dec 26, 2015 at 13:55
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You could do this with a command like 

taskkill.exe /f /fi “status eq not responding”

Or, turn it into a bat file, create a short cut and execute with just a click of a button. More details

However, this should be possible via Windows 8 and I would try and find out why it isn't!

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  • how this works, can you explain the syntax?
    – mbaljeetsingh
    Aug 30, 2013 at 13:03
  • It runs taskkill.exe, and forces a close where the programs status is "status eq not responding"
    – Dave
    Aug 30, 2013 at 13:04
  • Also, only the process tab is visible in the window 8 task manager (no go to process), that is why i asked
    – mbaljeetsingh
    Aug 30, 2013 at 13:05
  • How does it knows which file to close?
    – mbaljeetsingh
    Aug 30, 2013 at 13:05
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    You could also use Taskkill to kill processes by name eg TaskKill /F /IM notepad.exe or by ID, eg TaskKill /F /PID 1234.
    – sgmoore
    Aug 30, 2013 at 17:37
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You might want to try Process Explorer, or Process Hacker 2. They not only work very fine on NT operating systems, and let you end anything you want, they would also show many interesting things. Both applications are very safe (not a malware or virus) and they are way way better than the built-in task manager of Windows.

I highly recommend Process Hacker.

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