The purpose of the Windows Task Manager is to give you a way to see what is running on your computer at any given time. This includes open programs and processes/services. You can also check the performance of your computer in respect to RAM and CPU usage plus network utilization.
There are other things you can do with Task Manager that most people will never have the need to do. Such things include changing the priority of a process, assigning a process to a processor if you have a multiprocessor system and starting a new program. Not all of these features are available in every version of Windows.
Here you can see the older Windows 98 version of Task Manager.
As you can see you don’t have many options here. You can mainly use this version to end a task/program or to shut down the computer.
The Windows 2000 & XP versions have many more features to manage your tasks.
On the Applications tab you can view the running tasks, end a task, start a new task or switch from task to task.
On the Processes tab you can view all the running processes and end any that may be giving your trouble. Keep in mind that ending the wrong process can cause undesirable results.
The Performance tab allows you to check the current memory, CPU and pagefile usage. If you suspect a certain application is using a lot of resources then you can confirm this here.
The Networking tab allows you to check your network resources if you are on a network. It will list the available adapters, the percentage of bandwidth it is using, the speed of the link and what state it is in.
Related Tips:
Using Windows Computer Management
Windows XP Administrative Tools
Using Event Viewer to Troubleshoot
Using MSconfig
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