How do I interpret the Performance tab of Task Manager?
Firstly, let’s talk about the numbers. They are in 4 groups, labelled Totals, Commit Charge, Physical Memory, and Kernel Memory. Totals: tells you how many handles, processes, and threads there are allocated in the OS. The numbers are simple counters, but the words are quite tricky to explain, because they’re basic programming concepts, and basic concepts are always tricky (try explaining the verb ‘to be’ some time). Handles: the kernel supplies programs with ‘objects’ such as files, shared-memory sections, registry keys, and so on. A program uniformly manipulates an object by means of a handle, which is a temporary connection to the object. A handle is not the object; for example, if a file is opened for 17 different uses at the same time, it will have 17 different handles connected to it. Processes: a process is an instance of a program in execution. If you’re running Explorer 3 times, then there will be 3 processes running. See the difference? The program is the thing that persists
