How To Kill Windows Processes That Won't Die
Ever have an application that just hangs and never returns to normal or terminate?
So you open up Windows Task Manager, find the application process, right click on it and select End Process.
Nothing happens! The process is still running and the dead application continues to cause high CPU utilization to the point where you can't do much with your computer.
You repeat the process. Nothing again. One more time…that process just won't terminate and die.
Now what?
Well, having pesky processes, that refuse to terminate and continues to hog CPU cycles, can be frustrating to the point where you just want to hit the power button and shut down. But that's too risky and more times than not will cause loss of data or system boot problems.
What you need is a utility that can kill and terminate stubborn processes, the first time, using PsKill from Microsoft Sysinternals.
PsKill requires no installation and is a stand alone executable that is run from the command line. It can kill process locally or remotely. PsKill is bundled with Sysinternals PsTools which is a collection of command line tools for Windows computers.
To use PsKill, you want to get things setup first:
- Download PsTools from Microsoft site, and unzip to your desktop.
- Open the PsTools folder and copy pskill.exe to your System32 folder. The reason for this is that pskill will be in your executable environment path so you can just type the command, with out specifying the full path to the folder and file location.
- Next open Task Manager (right click on the taskbar then select Task Manager ) and make sure the PID column is visible (may need to use horizontal scroll bar to scroll to the right to see PID column).
If it is not visible, click on View \ Select Columns… and make sure PID (Process Identifier) is checked and select OK.
- Now the next time you have an application that is hanging, and it's process will not end from Task Manager, make note of the process PID number in Task Manager.
- Then open up a command prompt (click on Start \ Run and enter cmd in the run box) and type the following command:
pskill 1680
(just substitute 1680 with your PID number that you want terminated).
The process WILL terminate freeing your computer from application hell.
You should be able to re-open the application again. But be careful, killing processes this way may cause data loss with the application that was terminated (such as if you were using a text editor or Microsoft Word).
At least you won't have to reboot 
Filed under Windows Tips, Windows Vista Tips by 
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Comments on How To Kill Windows Processes That Won't Die
Unfortunately I have not had any luck with this..
FL Studio keeps crashing, (possibly something to do with that $2 midi dongle from ebay) and it just won't go away no matter what i try.
I've tried all these "process killers", and i'm still stuck with rebooting as my only solution to the problem.
I'm willing to try any ideas anyone might have.. I just want to get back to making music!
@Shane
You are better off fixing the problem with FL Studio so it doesn't crash anymore. Think about it….what's the point of finding a utility that will kill the process of an app that repeatedly crashes.
That's the only you are going to get back to making music.
I tried using pskill before finding this post. pskill says "process killed" but it's still running…
@kurt
Would it happen to be a process you are not familiar with such as spyware or a virus? They are famous for restarting themselves after being killed.
after using pskill still running
@gunasundari.t
I never had that happen. Are you having other issues with your PC?
I have the same problem. I have a win2008 terminal server (not citrix), where one of the users have a process that just hangs (cmd.exe). I won't be killed, and the user is unable to log off (He can disconnect, but he reconnects to the same session each time he logs in.) PSKILL says the process got killed, but it is still there with tha same PID as before.
Can someone help?
i am having this prob with nero. and i have had this prob with other programs also. i am tryin everything i can think of to solve this prob. can virus's – spyware cause other programs like nero to not be able to close out? i want to be clear about what is happening. i hit the X on the program…..then pull up task manager and the process of nero "or another program" is still there…..and this pskill this works for the programs that are not froze but not for the ones that have froze. i need help and i want to say thanks for any help back to me on this.
i have a 700g hard drive….and my virus scans take very long to scan…but i will be doin that after this comment…..
zachnohio@yahoo.com i hope to hear from someone soon on this….thanks
Hello,
I have this problem to in windows XP, anyone have any solution ? It most be someway to kill process HARD in windows, like kill -9 in linux, pskill does not help.
I still can't kill that pesky CPU hogging JkDefragScreenSaver.exe process – Can't kill it with taskill cant kill it with pskill and can't kill it with task manager
Its working…
pskill kills application rather than taskkill windows command
cheers!!!!!!…….
Didn't work with me… Maxthon and Digsby hang and still need a reboot…
Ok people what is wrong here! The above article says to find the PID number in TASK MANAGER. My Win XP SP3 Task Manager does NOT have a PID column! So what the hell is going on? HOW OLD is this article. I wish people would date their submission on the net! It would save a lot of us a lot of wasted time! People wake up!!!
Ok fine! I had to dig around and found that I have to activate the PID column! AGAIN! You could have mentioned that! Don't assume we all have our PID columns activated! Gee!!!
Ok well that was USELESS. The process in question: nerovision was NOT KILLED by pskill! THANKS A WHOLE LOT! How about posting some info on what to do when PSKILL does NOT kill a process! Again! A lot of wasted time because people post partial info. USELESS use of your neurons!
@Robyn, I have a feeling your computer skills are no better than your people skills which is why no one really wants to help you. Sorry bud, time to move on and help real people….
I think with Vista, nothing will kill a process because of Microsoft's nanny-state mentality. If Microsofts oh-so-intelligent software doesn't think there is a problem, then there's no problem no matter how large the problem is in reality. So, if you need to kill firefox.exe because for some stupid reason it says it is still running after you terminated it, you may not kill it because Microsoft doesn't see a problem with the executable, therefore Microsoft won't allow you to kill it.
It seems almost similar to the Vista internet problems where your browser suddenly can't surf the web any more but Microsoft sees nothing wrong (because pings and tracerts still go through), therefore there can be nothing wrong.
Hi there, I found that there is 5 basic applications that may stop a process:
1. kill,
2. xkill,
3. taskkill,
4. process assassin,
5. pskill.
If someone would like to be guinea pig please fill free to try and tell if the rest of not mentioned above staff work properly. I already have tried task manager, taskkill, and pskill but that sh..t doesn't work. As it's mentioned they informed everything ok but opera was working till restarted the vista. Fortunately no problem with hiding working opera window but annoying. Next time I try Process Assassin but haven't any hope it will work but who knows.
Didn't work for the BatteryLife.exe utility which came with my ASUS G1S
First of all, not all processes can be killed in Windows, even if you have LOCAL SYSTEM account privileges (built-in local service account NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM). One example is when a driver doesn't cancel an I/O request.
Having said that, you can run a command prompt at LOCAL SYSTEM account privileges by typing the following in a command prompt:
at HH:MM /interactive cmd
where HH:MM is at least one minute in the future from when you hit enter.
So, if it is currently 8:30 AM, type:
at 8:31 /interactive cmd
and at 8:31 a command prompt will be launched as "NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM". You can check this by typing this at the prompt:
whoami
It should return SYSTEM. Programs launched from that new command prompt will also run as that user. For example, you can launch process explorer from the new command prompt and process explorer will be running with SYSTEM privileges (and will show that in it's windows title as [NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM].
Now, from within process explorer, you should have access to kill more processes. Be careful, because Windows depends on multiple processes/services to run & you could really mess things up if you kill the wrong process/service.
But, as I mentioned at the beginning, there are some that just can't be killed™. In that case, a reboot is most likely the only resolution. If Windows is hanging at logoff/shutdown, you may have to force it to power off by holding your power button in for 5 seconds.
@AstroNerdBoy: That isn't true. You can kill processes in Vista if you have enough privileges to do so.
THIS PSKILL COMMAND DOES NOT WORK!!! MY CMD SCREEN KEEPS SAYING THAT THE COMMAND IS NOT RECOGNIZED!! GET WITH IT DUDE!!! NOT EVERYONE'S COMPUTER IS THE SAME!!! DON'T BE GETTING PEOPLE'S HOPES UP WITH COMMANDS THAT MAY WORK FOR YOU BUT NOT EVERYONE ELSES!!!!!!
@Robyn: You have to go into task manager/view/select columns then check the one for PID.
@Kevin
It does work. Did you download and unzip pskill to the System32 folder…or did you download it somewhere else….DUDE!!
I was having the same problem reported by a couple of commenters where pskill was not killing a normal, non-system process that was hung. Turned out that process had descended processes. Using "pskill -t pid" did the trick, killing the process and its descendants.
It works, i had two stubborn process and this did the trick. Just wanted everyone to know
this doesn't work at all, i put it in system 32 etc and tested it on my problem program VLC media player and it killed it, then i waited for it to hang like it does every day and tried to kill it with pskill, guess what, IT DOESN'T WORK! pskill claims that the process is killed but i'm still left with unresponsive vlc processes and having to reboot all the time like a twat, thanks for nothing man
@PepJ
"then i waited for it to hang like it does every day"
Of course it's not going to work. Did it ever occur to you that you should FIX the problem with VLC.
if i was able to fix VLC then i wouldn't need a program to kill hung processes would i?? this is my last resport. and you are blind, you have like 95% of the people telling you that this damn thing doesn't work and you just come up with a terrible cop-out excuse every time, you're in such denial it's pathetic
@Pep
So when your car has a flat tire, instead of fixing it, you blame the air pump for not working, because it won't pump up a tire with a hole in it.
You need to fix the problem with your computer that is causing VLC to hang. Stop blaming sites for giving you a utility that was not meant to fix application issues. Pskill only kills process, and as you stated, it did work – "i put it in system 32 etc and tested it on my problem program VLC media player and it killed it".
If you don't know how to fix your computer, take it to a repair shop.
This worked….thanks
Doesnt work with x64, says the program encountered an error and cannot continue.