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- DOCUMENT:Q101659 21-JUL-1993 [W_NT]
- TITLE :INF: How Windows NT, 16-Bit Windows 3.1 Task Managers Differ
- PRODUCT :Windows NT
- PROD/VER:3.10
- OPER/SYS:WINDOWS
- KEYWORDS:
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- The information in this article applies to:
-
- - Microsoft Windows NT operating system, version 3.1
- - Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server, version 3.1
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- The Windows NT Task Manager is almost identical to the 16-bit Windows
- 3.1 Task Manager. The Windows NT Task Manager user interface has one
- new feature, a New Task field that allows you to start an application.
- However, several changes were made to the internal workings of the
- Task Manager.
-
- In 16-bit Windows 3.1, Task Manager has a dynamic window. Each time
- you call Task Manager by pressing CTRL+ESC, it enumerates the
- applications running and creates the Task Manager Window. In Windows
- NT, Task Manager has a static window. This change is designed to
- guarantee that Task Manager is always available, even when the system
- is under heavy load. It also ensures that Task Manager processes any
- keys you type ahead. If Task Manager did not create its window
- immediately, it could lose keystrokes and cripple the functionality
- provided by the New Task field.
-
- To optimize Windows NT and reduce the amount of system resources used
- (such as space in the paging file), Windows NT Task Manager is not a
- separate process. It runs as a thread in the Program Manager process.
- This change affects users that want to replace Task Manager or Program
- Manager because the two applications are intimately related. In 16-bit
- Windows 3.1, you can replace Task Manager with a custom program;
- Windows NT starts the Task Manager thread when Program Manager starts.
- It is possible to replace Task Manager by making it a separate
- application. To do so, prepend the value "taskman," (without the
- quotation marks) to the value of the following subkey in the Registry:
-
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT
- \Current Version\Winlogon\Shell
-
- Doing so instructs Winlogon to execute Task Manager as a separate
- process outside Program Manger.
-
- NOTE: The Task Manager replacement program must register and
- process the CTRL+ESC key sequence. When Task Manager is a dynamic
- window, the corresponding processing in Windows Server (WINSRV) is
- disabled. Also note that if the same CTRL+ESC key sequence is used,
- the "taskman" string must appear before Program Manager in the
- Registry, otherwise the task list thread in Program Manager
- registers the key sequence and the separate Task Manager process
- cannot. If you use another Task Manager-like application that is
- activated with a different key sequence, the registration order is
- not important.
-
- If you add Task Manager to this registry subkey value, you can replace
- the Program Manager with another shell program without replacing the
- Task Manager. A separate Task Manager process remains even when you
- replace Program Manager.
-
- Additional reference words: 3.10
- KBCategory:
- KBSubcategory: NTAP
-
- =============================================================================
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- Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1993.