Problem :
The Windows XP Task Manager saves most of the settings, but every time it starts, it always sorts the processes by PID. I want it to start up sorted by process name (Base Name column) since I always end up clicking the column header to do that when I start Task Manager anyway.
Is there a way to get this to work? I have looked at the Task Manager settings in the registry, but they are not in any sort of human-readable format.
Any ideas? Thanks a lot.
Solution :
The built-in Task Manager doesn’t do this, but I’m fairly certain Process Explorer saves your view each time you start it. It also has a lot more functionality and has an option to replace task manager completely.
I had considered hacking the executable file (taskmgr.exe) to see if there were a way to build this into it, but went with a decidedly easier and less risky method.
Since it amounts to a standard list-view control, what I did was to write an application that can detect if Task Manager is running, and if so, to hook into its list-control and perform the sort (by simulating a column click; I didn’t feel like manually sorting). It took a while to get it to be flexible enough to account for variations (especially since the columns are customizable), and then to allow for sorting on a different column—I figured I may as well have the option.
Unfortunately it means an extra program running in the background, but I already have plans for incorporating it into a more general-purpose app so that it’s not a one-function process, thus making it more acceptable to have it running because it does more things.
As Tom’s Hardware claims, the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionTaskManager has 2 settings that may hold the default column sort order. Unfortunately, the data is in hex and I have no idea what the settings correspond to specifically. Perhaps Synetech can figure it out?