How Windows NT, 16-Bit Windows 3.1 Task Managers Differ

ID: q101659

The information in this article applies to:

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 Manager. 

   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 query words: prodnt 

Keywords          : kbtool
Version           : 3.1
Platform          : WINDOWS

Last Reviewed: August 13, 1998