How To Disable Windows Task Manager Using A Registry Trick
Windows Task Manager is basically a task management utility included in Windows Operating Systems which provides you with a detailed view of CPU usage, running applications and processes, logged-in users, commit charge, network activity/ statistics and information on memory, computer performance and system services.
You may also use Task Manager to set processor affinity, process priorities, forcibly terminate various running processes and restart, shutdown, hibernate or log-off your system. With the Task Manager Utility having such powerful functionality and capabilities, system administrator might not want other users to run it.
It is possible that the system administrator disables the Task Manager Utility to prevent other users from using it. However, the administrator also has to block access to the Registry Editor to make the restriction on Task Manager to work.
Sometimes, the task Manager automatically stops working due to Trojan or other malware which intelligently disable the Task Manager to prevent system users from forcibly terminating malware processes.
However, you may enable or disable the Windows Task Manager on your system by performing a simple registry trick.
Process for Disabling Task Manager
- Click on the “Start” button to open the Start Menu and select “Run”. In the “Run” command box, type in “regedit” and press “Enter” key to open “Registry Editor”. Incase of Windows Vista, choose “Start Search” from the Start Menu and type in “regedit” and press “Enter”.
- Locate and select the registry key mentioned below:
To disable or block Task Manager for the user who is currently logged-on,
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System - Now right-click on the registry key “System”, go to “New” and select “DWORD (32-bit) Value”. Name it as “DisableTaskMgr”.
- Double-click on the registry entry “DisableTaskMgr”. Its value data needs to be set as “1”.
- Exit the Registry Editor.
To disable or block Task Manager for all users on the system,
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
If the key “System” is not present, you will have to create one. For creating a new key, you need to simply right-click on “Policies”, go to the option “New” in the context menu and select “Key”. Name it as “System”.
The process will immediately disable the Task Manager and users will not be able to open or run Task Manager anymore. The moment a user attempts to run the file “taskmgr.exe” or tries to open Task Manager using key combinations such as Ctrl+Alt+Del or Ctrl+Shift+Esc, windows will show an error message saying that the administrator has disabled the Task Manager.
Also, when the user right-clicks on the Taskbar, he/she finds that the “Task Manager” option in the context menu has been grayed out.
Read this post if you want to enable task manager.
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