The Task Manager in Windows has always been a useful place to view and manage running applications and services. It’s been redesigned for Windows 8 and now displays much more information and also allows you to perform basic administrative tasks.

With the added functionality, you may start to use the Task Manager more often in Windows 8. We will show you how to add the Task Manager to the Taskbar and to the Start screen in Windows 8 to allow for quicker and easier access.

To pin the Task Manager to the Taskbar, open Windows Explorer and navigate to the following directory:

C:\Windows\System32

Scroll down until you find the TM.exe file and right-click on it. Select Send to | Desktop (create shortcut) from the popup menu.

By default, the new shortcut is called “TM.exe – Shortcut.” If you want a better name to display for the shortcut on the Taskbar, rename the shortcut on the desktop.

Drag the shortcut to the Taskbar to pin it there.

To add a Task Manager tile to the Start screen, open the Start screen from the Desktop by moving your mouse to the extreme lower, left corner of the screen and clicking. To find the Task Manager, simply start typing “Task Manager” on the Start screen. The Search box automatically displays and the search term is entered.

The results of your search display on the left side of the screen. Right-click on the Task Manager block.

Options display at the bottom of the screen. Click the Pin to Start icon to place a tile for the Task Manager on the Start screen. Notice that you can also pin the Task Manager to the Taskbar from these options, as well.

The Task Manager tile is added to the far right side of the Start screen. For quicker access, drag the tile to the far left side of the Start screen, since that is the side that displays first when you open the Start screen.

Now you can quickly access system and application information, change settings for startup programs and users, view detailed information about processes, and start and stop services. You can still use Ctrl + Shift + Esc to access the Task Manager, but for those of us who prefer to use the mouse, these shortcuts are handy.