Using Windows Task Manager

• 1). Press the "ctrl" key, "alt" key and "delete" key on the keyboard simultaneously. If the next screen that appears includes a button for the "Task Manager," click it.
  
  
• 2). Click on the "Performance" tab located in the center near the top of the "Windows Task Manager" window. CPU usage along with page file (PF) usage is displayed in percentages and represented graphically. Also displayed are the total physical memory, available physical memory, system cache, kernel memory, commit charge and the total number of running processes.
  
  
• 3). Click on the "Processes" tab to see the list of all the running process.
  
  
• 4). Click on the "Networking" tab to see a graphical display of network activity. This includes the currently active Internet connection.
  
  
• 5). Click on the "Applications" tab to see the list of all the running application programs. Application programs are software programs specifically started by the user, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player and Notepad.
  
  

Using the Microsoft Management Console

• 1). Click the "Start" button in the corner of the screen, and then click on the menu item "Run..."
  
  
• 2). Type "perfmon" in the "Run" dialog box that appears, and then click the "OK" button. A window labeled "Performance" will open, displaying a graphical representation of various performance parameters.
  
  
• 3). Use the second mouse button to click on the graph, and then click on "Properties" to view the legend of colors used in the graph. These colors are displayed in the "System Monitor Properties" dialog box on the "Data" tab, below the "Counters" area, and can be adjusted to your preference.