TASKKILL (XP ONLY)

Terminates one or more programs or processes. Processes can be called by their process ID or by their name. View running processes by using the TASKLIST command.

Use

Run TASKLIST or Windows’ Task Manager (type “<Ctrl> + <Alt> + <Delete>”). Once you’ve determined which processes to terminate, type “TASKKILL” followed by the appropriate switches and parameters.

Switches and Parameters

/pid followed by the process ID: Specifies the process ID of the process to be terminated.

/im followed by the process name: Specifies the process name (called image name) of the process to be terminated. TASKKILL will terminate all instances of a process.

/f: Terminates the process(es) by force, if necessary. Some processes will ordinarily not be terminated without this switch. Most of these are crucial to the operation of Windows, so don’t be surprised if Windows shuts down if you end the wrong process.

/t: Terminates all “child processes” of the specified process.