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How to shut down an errant process

We most frequently think of using Task Manager to shut down an errant process via the Process tab. But if you have a UNIX background or just simply like to work from the command line, two Windows NT Resource Kit utilities can show you a new way.

The first step is to determine the process ID number, which can be done using the Tlist.exe command. Running C:\>tlist will return a list of running processes, first listing the process ID followed by the process name, with your results looking something like this:

   C:\>tlist
   0 System Process
   2 System
   20 smss.exe
   26 csrss.exe
   34 WINLOGON.EXE
   42 SERVICES.EXE
   45 LSASS.EXE
   72 SPOOLSS.EXE
   ...
   198 notepad.exe Untitled - Notepad
   214 TLIST.EXE

Now to stop Notepad (which has a process ID of 198), simply use the kill command (Kill.exe is a Resource Kit utility):

   C:\>kill 198
   process #198 killed

You may, if you wish, kill a process using its name instead. For example, C:\>kill notepad.exe will also shut Notepad down.