I’ve used lots of online sources to look up Windows processes and DLLs by name in the past, but one that keeps coming up on Google over the years is Uniblue’s site at www.processlibrary.com. Now, that company has created a free, fabulous, and small (2 MB) process lookup tool. It integrates right into Windows Task Manager and links any entry that shows up in the Processes tab view to its corresponding Process Library coverage.

As this screenshot depicts, the only change to the Processes tab in Windows Task Manager is the appearance of a green “i” icon to the left of the Image Name column. Here, “i” stands for information, and provides a link to the process library at Uniblue for the item to its right. This creates a quick and handy way to check on any process active on your Windows PC (this tool works for Windows XP as well as other modern 32-bit versions of Windows) to see if it’s known or unknown, and perhaps benign or malign.

This program is called ProcessQuickLink, and adds very little burden to a running Vista (or XP) system, but can provide a wealth of useful information as and when it’s needed. Try it: you’re pretty much guaranteed to like it. And if you can’t find what you’re looking for in this library, try http://www.tasklist.org/ next, then Google it to see what pops up. When you figure out what’s what, you can be the first to report what you find to processlibrary.com (send an email to pl at uniblue dot com, properly formatted), and help them to advance their coverage of the burgeoning realm of Windows processes.