Forcefully Terminate Programs Windows XP/Vista/7 [How To]

By Rich on June 2, 2009 (30 Comments)

This quick tip is in response to a couple of readers’ questions on how to forcefully kill a program.

Sometimes a program will hang up and wont close. You can use task manager to kill the process or you can run a simple command. Learn how to do both of these in this guide.

Use Task Manager to Terminate a Program

To use task manager to terminate a program, do the following:

Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to open the task manager
Find the frozen process and right click the name
Click End Process
Exit the Task Manager

Use the Command Line to Terminate a Program

Sometimes you just want to use the command line; to use the command line to terminate a program, do the following:

Press WINKEY+R to Open the Run dialogue (Start, type run, click run)
Type cmd and hit Enter
Type taskkill /f /im process.exe (process exe is the frozen process’s name)
Wait for confirmation and exit the command line

taskkill03 Forcefully Terminate Programs Windows XP/Vista/7 [How To]

About Rich

Rich is the owner and creator of Windows Guides; he spends his time breaking things on his PC so he can write how-to guides to fix the problems he creates.

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Comments

D.DuPre’
thanks, i been using the task manager which eventually miscue afterward
shortcuts aren’t always the best solution.i’ll use the cmd for now on
D.DuPre’
thanks, i been using the task manager which eventually miscue afterward
shortcuts aren’t always the best solution.i’ll use the cmd for now on
D.DuPre’
thanks, i been using the task manager which eventually miscue afterward
shortcuts aren’t always the best solution.i’ll use the cmd for now on
rsvr85
You can also create a shortcut on the desktop with the following into the location bar. Make sure that the name is automatically taskkill. It’ll kill any windows “not responding”
taskkill.exe /f /fi “status eq not responding”
Francisco Wesley
Very interesting, I was using this command recently for close the internet explore and firefox.
http://www.franciscowesley.com Francisco Wesley
Very interesting, I was using this command recently for close the internet explore and firefox.
http://www.franciscowesley.com Francisco Wesley
Very interesting, I was using this command recently for close the internet explore and firefox.
rsvr85
You can also create a shortcut on the desktop with the following into the location bar. Make sure that the name is automatically taskkill. It’ll kill any windows “not responding”
taskkill.exe /f /fi “status eq not responding”
http://mintywhite.com RSVR85
You can also create a shortcut on the desktop with the following into the location bar. Make sure that the name is automatically taskkill. It’ll kill any windows “not responding”
taskkill.exe /f /fi “status eq not responding”
MSherwood
Sometimes, when I REALLY want to kill all instances and processes involved with an application, I’ll choose “End Process Tree” and that does the trick.
http://mywindowspc.com/msherwood MSherwood
Sometimes, when I REALLY want to kill all instances and processes involved with an application, I’ll choose “End Process Tree” and that does the trick.
http://mywindowspc.com/msherwood MSherwood
Sometimes, when I REALLY want to kill all instances and processes involved with an application, I’ll choose “End Process Tree” and that does the trick.
Rich
rsvr and MSherwood — thanks for sharing your tips!
http://mintywhite.com/tech/ Rich
rsvr and MSherwood — thanks for sharing your tips!
http://mintywhite.com/tech/ Rich
rsvr and MSherwood — thanks for sharing your tips!
SandeepChouhan
Hi,
This is the best way to close the program, but can you put any other way! Because sometimes, a virus is executed and the process cannot be killed through Task Manager or Command Prompt, whats the best way at that time to kill the program and minimize the damange on computer!
Thanks,
Sandeep Singh Chouhan
SandeepChouhan
Hi,
This is the best way to close the program, but can you put any other way! Because sometimes, a virus is executed and the process cannot be killed through Task Manager or Command Prompt, whats the best way at that time to kill the program and minimize the damange on computer!
Thanks,
Sandeep Singh Chouhan
SandeepChouhan
Hi,
This is the best way to close the program, but can you put any other way! Because sometimes, a virus is executed and the process cannot be killed through Task Manager or Command Prompt, whats the best way at that time to kill the program and minimize the damange on computer!
Thanks,
Sandeep Singh Chouhan
Asif
its really nice.
http://www.rafusoft.com Asif
its really nice.
http://www.rafusoft.com Asif
its really nice.
saleh13
thank you
Joe Russell
Knowing how to do this from the command line is a nifty trick!
http://www.thejoerussell.com Joe Russell
Knowing how to do this from the command line is a nifty trick!
http://www.thejoerussell.com Joe Russell
Knowing how to do this from the command line is a nifty trick!
GarykPatton
I have been looking looking around for this kind of information. Will you post some more in future? I’ll be grateful if you will.
http://www.google.com GarykPatton
I have been looking looking around for this kind of information. Will you post some more in future? I’ll be grateful if you will.
http://www.google.com GarykPatton
I have been looking looking around for this kind of information. Will you post some more in future? I’ll be grateful if you will.
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