Use Windows Vista Task Manager to See File Name of Running Process

One of the nicer upgrades in Windows Vista is the ability to see the file name of a running process through the Task Manager. How many times have you seen a process in Task Manager but couldn’t figure out where on earth it was located? This ability isn’t turned on by default, but it’s simple enough to do.

To start task manager, just right click on the taskbar and choose task manager. Then select the View menu and Select Columns.

Then select the Image Path Name checkbox in the list.

Now you should see the file name in the list of running processes:

If you see items that don’t have an image path name, that’s because they are running from the windows directory, or somewhere in the system path.

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This article was originally written on 01/21/07 Tagged with: System Administration, Windows Vista

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Comments (8)

1. November 13, 2007 8:16 am
   ishtiaq

   i chose the CPU Usage view once and can’t revert back to the original view now. any suggestions?

2. January 14, 2008 4:01 pm
   Jesica

   How do you know what is not needed on the computer in the processes in task manager?

3. March 28, 2008 8:10 pm
   Brian

   my ultimate task manager is gone! does not appear in a Ctrl-Alt-Del nor can I access it thru the taskbar. how can i get it back without a re-install?

   thanx

4. May 21, 2008 3:46 am
   Andrew

   i have exactly the same problem as brian, i bought my computer from pc world and because it was the last one in stock it was on show, so when i press ctrl alt & del the only option that comes up is switch user, im clueless and i use task manager non stop usually, any help would be very much appreciated, thanks

5. May 21, 2008 11:33 am
   whs

   I am not sure whether this is available in the Vista Home editions. At least I could not find the “Select columns” in the drop down of Home Premium. The other two options were there.

6. August 28, 2008 7:31 am
   Franklin Matos

   Task Manager has two different views. To see the view that includes menus and tabs, double-click the border of the Task Manager window. To switch back to the view without menus and tabs, double-click anywhere in the border around the tabs.

7. September 24, 2008 5:20 pm
   IronMac

   Franklin, thanks for that great tip!

8. October 14, 2008 4:47 pm
   westroli

   Awesome, awesome tip, Franklin, I’ve been dealing with the non-menu view for a year, thought it was some bug….haven’t been able to view ‘processes”…awesome