• 0

How To Kill Explorer When Running Program


Question

Ok, I was reading some posts about BF2 and someone said they kill their explorer using ctrl+alt+del and then running the game to get extra resources. It works fine but I was wondering if there is a way I can add an argument to the bf2.exe so it does this automatically?

I have a dock, konfabulator, and some other programs I use constantly...is it possible to include an argument that can kill those as well? Thanks :)

13 answers to this question

Recommended Posts

  • 0

make a batch file for each game.

******* is for each of the programs u want closed...Konfab. Dock, Explorer

Start taskkill /im Explorer.exe
Start taskkill /im ********
Start taskkill /im ********
Start taskkill /im ********
Start taskkill /im ********
start [path]/gamename
exit

  • 0
  Beastage said:
First of all, you can't kill explorer when running windows :)

for the others I'm sure its doable (don't know how) but I'm actually interested to see how its possible, so I'm adding my self to your question :p

586443873[/snapback]

You can kill explorer using task manager. When you end the process all you get left with is the task manager window but you can then run a program using the file menu. Whenever I get done with the game I just to go to file>run>explorer.exe and everything comes back. I'm assuming this is killing explorer?

Thanks, tch1005, I'll give those a shot. :)

  • 0
  tch1005 said:
make a batch file for each game.

******* is for each of the programs u want closed...Konfab. Dock, Explorer

Start taskkill /im Explorer.exe
Start taskkill /im ********
Start taskkill /im ********
Start taskkill /im ********
Start taskkill /im ********
start [path]/gamename
exit

586443897[/snapback]

Don't forget to add lines to restart those services after gamename ends..

And its completely possible to kill explorer while running windows :dontgetit:

  • 0
  HellBender said:
Don't forget to add lines to restart those services after gamename ends..

And its completely possible to kill explorer while running windows :dontgetit:

586443937[/snapback]

Hellbender, would you mind telling me how to do that? Or do you know of a site that explains these types of commands? Thanks :)

edit: Hmmm, I made the batch file and typed the commands that tch1005 suggested. It does kill the programs I want but then it pops up the "turn off computer" prompt. It also says it cannot find the path of the game but I know it is correct (D:\Games\Battlefield_2\BF2.exe). Am I missing something?

Edited by soloredd
  • 0

You are able to end-task "explorer.exe" through ALT-CTRL-DEL..and you can still run your system fine but you just won't have access to your taskbar, which will we gone when you end task "explorer.exe." Just make sure to re-run explorer by going back into ALT-CTRL-DEL and File > Run New Task > "Explorer.exe" after your done playing your game. :D

  • 0

There was a project a while ago on neowin whereby some members started to make a lil' program that ended all other processes when you ran it for playing games n' shizzle, but the performance gain was too small to make the program worthwhile i think.

Maybe someone could chase the creators up?

  • 0
  Julius Caro said:
I thought that games already did something with the other running processes.

Let's say, I have around 100 free mb of RAM. I start a game, play it, and then close it. When I check again I have A LOT more RAM.

586444940[/snapback]

That's because of the way Windows handles memory management. When a game starts, it allocates TONS of memory. Windows flushes everything that's not in use (ie. everything except the game) into the swap file to gain the maximum amount of available RAM. Then, the game uses up most of the available RAM, and it performs better. Tasks that aren't as critical (such as the system shell - explorer.exe) don't get their jobs done as quickly, but the whole point is that they don't need to while the game is running.

Basically, what I'm saying is Windows knows how to manage memory and other resources, and forcibly killing the shell or other services is a waste of time.

  • 0
  John said:
Basically, what I'm saying is Windows knows how to manage memory and other resources, and forcibly killing the shell or other services is a waste of time.

586445060[/snapback]

That would've been my point if I had known about it, lol :p

Edited by Julius Caro
  • 0
  soloredd said:
Hellbender, would you mind telling me how to do that? Or do you know of a site that explains these types of commands? Thanks :)

edit: Hmmm, I made the batch file and typed the commands that tch1005 suggested. It does kill the programs I want but then it pops up the "turn off computer" prompt. It also says it cannot find the path of the game but I know it is correct (D:\Games\Battlefield_2\BF2.exe). Am I missing something?

586443971[/snapback]

You can use the wait command before starting BF2.

start /wait Path to BF2
start explorer.exe

That forces it to wait until BF2 exits, then it relaunches explorer.

  • 0
  Julius Caro said:
I thought that games already did something with the other running processes.

Let's say, I have around 100 free mb of RAM. I start a game, play it, and then close it. When I check again I have A LOT more RAM.

586444940[/snapback]

My quest for figuring this is more for the running apps...konfabulator, yzdock, nod32, and itunes. The explorer.exe isn't much of an issue, I was just experimenting. It's kind of a pain to close everything, play the game, then start them again. The big one is yzdock as it steals focus when you have the mouse at the bottom of the screen.

Thanks for the help everyone, I'll see if I can't mess around a bit more and get it to work...it still wants to shut the computer down and says it cannot find the path :huh:

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • What annoys me is the people that try to buy a higher end product, and then low ball you, and say but I don't need that function, all I need is to use it for video out so I don't feel like paying higher price.   I had a person that was trying to buy RTX 3080 from me for $100 and his excuse was, well I won't be playing games on it, I just need four monitor outout. Or someone was trying to buy 2TB Gen5 M.2 for $50, well I don't need the speed, is just for basic storage. Or i was offered $80 for 20TB hard drive, that person said well, right now I only about 7TB, so rest won't be in use Just some examples in last month or two...   The guy with the 3080, I replied to with something like go to Chevy dealer and offer them $15K for that brand new corvette and tell them that you you only need to drive to work, so you don't need to go fast.   There a lot of low ballers that try to take advantage.
    • Not in Syracuse, NY. They're about to break ground! https://www.syracuse.com/micro...on-and-other-tech-jobs.html
    • Here in Finland we have lots of rural areas with narrow roads, one of the highest taxes in the world (cars are taxed way above EU standards) and fuel is quite expensive. Yet we educate our drivers to drive responsibly and safely in all areas, and our people respect each others rights and freedom to move around safely. Which is why we have even small children under 10 years old walking and cycling alone to schools in the streets, even in big cities. Safety is about being responsible and about respecting others. And I would hate to see AI (or anyone else) destroy our way of life. There are and always will be outliers, accidents happen and machines break. I dont't want to see people relying on AI to do things like driving for them. I want people to think and react to the world around them themselves, and being responsible instead of them browsing TikTok or whatever instead of looking out the window, and then saying that "It wasn't me, it was the car". Already people walk around town with their eyes glued to a screen – I don't want people driving around the same way.
    • And I should hope none will. I don't want to walk ouside to have some randome AI drive over me and mine. Not that I want a person to do it either but I want there to be an actual person who takes responsibility of their actions instead of relinquishing control to a machine. In some highways I can accept self-driving, but even then there should be some kind of dead man switch etc. that actually monitors the drivers status.
    • No thank you. I want to drive myself, and not just because I don't trust a machine or whatever – I like driving, and I like doing it with a manual car without lane guidance and all other "driver assists". I wven rarely use cruise control. I went through and paid for to have a license to that allows me to do it, and do it responsibly instead of relinquishing control to a machine. I currently drive a van for work in a city, something like 200 km/day. If we everything is automated and computers decide everything for us, the dumber people will get since they don't have to bother thinking for themselves nor do they have to take responsibility for themselves since "it wasn't me, it was the machine" will be their future defence for everything. Soon, Neowin's writers will be out of a job because AI can do it just fine and it doesn't need pay. Wikipedia – a free service with voluntary writers – just started replacing real people with AI, and had to shut it down (at least for now). Lets let ai AI and those that run it (or rather run them) the keys the the world and watch it burn because no one is able to actually do anything without some AI assistant telling them what to do (driving included). What a world!
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Month Later
      POR2GAL4EVER earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Year In
      Orpheus13 earned a badge
      One Year In
    • One Month Later
      Orpheus13 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Orpheus13 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      serfegyed earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      536
    2. 2
      ATLien_0
      247
    3. 3
      +FloatingFatMan
      176
    4. 4
      +Edouard
      166
    5. 5
      Xenon
      118
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!