Guide | How To Opening Task Manager Quickly without CTRL+ALT+DEL

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htfkid2000

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Jun 7, 2011
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Well this is a little known fact about Windows and it's Task Manager...
Instead of Pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete and using a Cute Little Menu.....

You could press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC, Instead of opening a Cute Little Menu, it opens the Task Manager without going through a menu! This may be useful for those pesky malware that disable CTRL+ALT+DELETE, or a faster way of opening Task Manager!

For some reason, hardly anybody knows about this!
 
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I admit it, not known at all, caused CTRL+ALT+DEL is the primary shortcut keys and everyday used.
 
Thanks for sharing to those who haven't known about it.

I've been using Ctrl+Shift+Esc for over a year, it says much time. Ctrl+Shift+Esc is all the on the left side of my keyboard and to be honest, I never use Ctrl+Alt+Del anymore.
 
I have heard of this, but the main one I use is just Ctrl+Alt+Del. Now I know that other people use it I think I should :P Thanks +1
 
Both yield the same result on my XP SP3 machine... I'm taken straight to the task manager each time. Perhaps I've worked some Kung Fu on my system in the past and have forgotten I had done so. :s
 
HeffeD said:
Both yield the same result on my XP SP3 machine... I'm taken straight to the task manager each time. Perhaps I've worked some Kung Fu on my system in the past and have forgotten I had done so. :s

That is because you have the Welcome Screen Turned On! Turning it off and you get The Cute Menu!
 
I right click on the taskbar and choose "Start Task Manager" then, I pin it to the taskbar.

Thank you for sharing this method.
 
I've know about for over a year now. I can't believe some people don't know about it. CTRL-ALT-DELETE is annoying
 
Little keyboard shortcuts like Windows Key and Pause/Break are great, this is one I like cause you never have to let your hand leave the mouse and I can't recall how many years I have used it but nice to drop the info for those that didn't know.
 
bbbbweb said:
I've know about for over a year now. I can't believe some people don't know about it. CTRL-ALT-DELETE is annoying
Didn't know about this...And I've got used to CTRL+ALT+DEL. :P
Anyway I've stoped using Task Manager..Now I'm using Process Hacker but still good trick...thank you for the share!
 
Weird indeed :P So you are required to enter your logon credentials at startup? You turn the Welcome Screen on/off from Control Panel > User Accounts > Change the way users log on or off. If you have one account you don't see it though. By default is turned on so you get straight to the Task Manager if you press Ctrl+Alt+Del. Nevertheless the tip is useful for Vista and 7 that behave differently.
 
bogdan said:
Weird indeed :P So you are required to enter your logon credentials at startup? You turn the Welcome Screen on/off from Control Panel > User Accounts > Change the way users log on or off. If you have one account you don't see it though. By default is turned on so you get straight to the Task Manager if you press Ctrl+Alt+Del. Nevertheless the tip is useful for Vista and 7 that behave differently.

I only have a single account, so that would account for it. :)