Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Process Explorer VS Memtest86+

Compare Process Explorer VS Memtest86+ and see what are their differences

Process Explorer logo Process Explorer

The top window always shows a list of the currently active processes, including the names of their owning accounts, whereas the information displayed in the bottom window depends on the mode that Process Explorer is in: if it is in handle mode you'lโ€ฆ

Memtest86+ logo Memtest86+

Memtest86+ is a free-to-download memory test software designed to test and stress test an x86 or...
  • Process Explorer Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-21
  • Memtest86+ Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-01-30

Process Explorer features and specs

  • Detailed System Information
    Process Explorer provides in-depth information about system processes, including detailed CPU and memory usage stats.
  • Hierarchical View
    It shows processes in a tree structure, making it easy to understand parent-child relationships between processes.
  • Advanced Diagnostic Capabilities
    The tool offers advanced features like DLL and handle viewing, allowing detailed investigation of system issues.
  • Real-Time Monitoring
    It allows real-time monitoring of system performance, including CPU, GPU, and I/O activity, which is critical for diagnosing performance bottlenecks.
  • Integration with VirusTotal
    Process Explorer can integrate with VirusTotal to check the safety of running processes, adding an extra layer of security.
  • Free to Use
    Process Explorer is part of the Sysinternals suite, which is freely available for use, making it accessible for both individual users and organizations.

Possible disadvantages of Process Explorer

  • Complexity
    The extensive features and detailed information can be overwhelming for novice users who may find the interface complex to navigate.
  • Resource Intensive
    While generally lightweight, the comprehensive monitoring features can consume a noticeable amount of system resources, which might affect performance on older or less powerful systems.
  • Windows Only
    Process Explorer is designed specifically for Windows operating systems, limiting its use for those who work in cross-platform environments.
  • No Built-In Reporting
    The tool does not offer built-in reporting capabilities, requiring users to manually capture and document information.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    Due to its advanced features and detailed information, new users might face a steep learning curve before being able to fully utilize all its capabilities.
  • Limited Documentation
    While there are some resources available, the documentation can be sparse, making it difficult for users to find solutions to specific problems.

Memtest86+ features and specs

  • Open Source
    Memtest86+ is open source, allowing users to view, modify, and distribute the code freely, ensuring transparency and adaptability for various needs.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    The tool runs on multiple operating systems, making it versatile for users with different setups and ensuring wide accessibility for memory testing.
  • Comprehensive Testing
    It offers thorough testing of RAM by utilizing a variety of test patterns and algorithms, helping identify issues that could affect system stability and performance.
  • Bootable
    Memtest86+ can be run from a bootable USB or CD, allowing it to perform tests outside of the operating system environment, which can be crucial for diagnosing hardware issues without interference from software variables.
  • Regular Updates
    The tool is actively maintained with regular updates, ensuring compatibility with the latest hardware and improvements in testing capabilities.

Possible disadvantages of Memtest86+

  • User Interface
    The tool's interface is text-based and may be intimidating for less experienced users, lacking a graphical user interface (GUI) that some might prefer for ease of use.
  • Time-Consuming
    Running the full suite of tests can take a significant amount of time, especially on systems with a large amount of RAM, which might not be ideal in time-sensitive scenarios.
  • Basic Troubleshooting
    While it effectively identifies memory errors, Memtest86+ does not provide solutions or detailed troubleshooting guidance, which means users must interpret results and determine next steps independently.
  • Limited to Memory Testing
    The scope of the tool is limited to RAM testing, so it may not identify other hardware issues affecting the system, requiring users to use additional tools for comprehensive diagnostics.

Analysis of Process Explorer

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Process Explorer is generally regarded as a good and reliable tool by both system administrators and other IT professionals. It is frequently recommended for its depth of features, ease of use, and the detailed process information it provides.

Why this product is good

  • Process Explorer is considered a valuable tool because it offers comprehensive insights into system processes, threads, and resource usage. It provides detailed information about which files and directories individual processes have open, the DLLs they have loaded, and more. Its ability to offer real-time data and powerful searching capabilities makes it invaluable for troubleshooting and performance monitoring.

Recommended for

  • System administrators
  • IT professionals
  • Software developers
  • Anyone interested in detailed system diagnostics
  • Users troubleshooting application issues

Process Explorer videos

Sysinternals Process Explorer Review + download link and method

More videos:

  • Review - Scan for Malware Using Process Explorer and Virus Total
  • Review - What Is?: Process Explorer?

Memtest86+ videos

No Memtest86+ videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Process Explorer and Memtest86+)
Monitoring Tools
90 90%
10% 10
Command Line Tools
100 100%
0% 0
CRM
0 0%
100% 100
Performance Monitoring
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Process Explorer should be more popular than Memtest86+. It has been mentiond 289 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Process Explorer mentions (289)

  • Stats โ€“ macOS system monitor in your menu bar
    Unclear what you mean by programmable, but https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer is the bee's knees and you can set an option to have it take over taskmon.exe, launch on login, and put as many of the widgets in the taskbar as you fancy. I love it I've heard about running them directly from SMB but have never been the kind of person to try out such a stunt... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Ask HN: What tools do you recommend for working on Windows?
    Always put all your portable programs in the "A:\MyPC\Programs\" folder. Always put all your documents in the "A:\MyPC\Documents\" folder. Put driver files and runtime libraries in the "A:\MyPC\Install\" folder. For all three, feel free to create subfolders as needed, either per topic, per group, or however your brain envisions data trees. You can find plenty of portable windows software in the links provided... - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • Hidden dependencies in Linux binaries.
    On windows, this is Dependency Walker versus ProcExp. Similar eye-goggling results. https://www.dependencywalker.com/ https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Windows Explorer and Desktop Window Manager high RAM usage
    If you run Process Explorer (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer) and enable process tree view, you can see what processes are running under explorer.exe. That should give you a better idea of what's consuming that memory if you're genuinely concerned about this. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Roblox doesn't launch for months on PC
    If you have any suspicious processes running onto your computer, close them IMMEDIATELY. I suggest using Process Explorer, as it has a Virustotal which submits all Executables to virustotal under 70+ antiviruses. If any of the processes have 3+ detections, Close them down as anticheats will detect it and stop you from running Roblox. Source: over 2 years ago
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Memtest86+ mentions (61)

  • Tried to update and shut down my PC and now I get this. What's the deal?
    It comes in either a bootable ISO or an EFI file. I'd recommend putting Ventoy on a flash drive and loading either the EFI file (listed as "Binary Files" on the page) or "Linux ISO w/ Grub" versions from that. This will wipe the flash drive, but you can just drag and drop ISOs or whatever into a folder and boot them without something like Rufus or Etcher. It's quite nice to have on hand either way for things like... Source: over 2 years ago
  • Got some questions about system stability
    I've been having some weird issues such as Discord restarting itself and browser tabs crashing randomly. Originally I thought I was having some issue with Electron related programs, but the more I Google the more I see "test the ram" so I finally did. For context, my hesitation on testing ram is I haven't had a game crash or act weird once, outside of normal Linux things (Pop!_OS), it's just been browsers and... Source: over 2 years ago
  • To the PC gamers of Better Ask Reddit: How do you do it?
    Memtest86+ to check your RAM. A tutorial here. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Need help with random reboots
    You might want to check for memory problems. You can create a bootable thumbdrive with the memtest86+ installer at https://memtest.org/. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Desperately need help, frequent program crashes
    What I would do is create a bootable thumbdrive with Memtest86+ installed. You can read about it and find the download link at (https://memtest.org) . What you'll be downloading is the program to install memtest86+ on a thumbdrive. Source: about 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Process Explorer and Memtest86+, you can also consider the following products

Process Monitor - Monitor file system, Registry, process, thread and DLL activity in real-time.

MemTest64 - TechPowerUp Memtest64 is a lightweight, standalone utility that lets you check your system memory for problems at the hardware-level. It has a graphi

htop - htop - an interactive process viewer for Unix. This is htop, an interactive process viewer for Unix systems. It is a text-mode application (for console or X terminals) and requires ncurses. Latest release: htop 2.

PassMark MemTest86 - MemTest86 is a memory test for x86 computers.

Autoruns - See what programs are configured to startup automatically when your system boots and you login.

Event Viewer - Get help, support, and tutorials for Windows productsโ€”Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, and Windows 10 Mobile.