Huorong Sword alternative: Microsoft's Process Explorer

This article was first published on 2023/11/22 in the LIZHI.SHOP WeChat Official Account (shumalizhi), and is now synced with appropriate adjustments.

Yesterday, Huorong Security released a notice: starting today, Huorong Security software will discontinue the security analysis tool "Huorong Sword."

The reason is that Huorong Sword is often exploited by cyber attackers to forcibly terminate various security programs and then carry out attacks.

After it is taken offline, neither the built-in version in Huorong nor the various standalone versions of Huorong Sword available online will be usable.

However, the team says that Huorong Security 6.0 will later reintroduce a system diagnostic and security analysis tool, but the timing is still unknown, and the new version is still in development.

Many users have started looking for alternatives, such as OpenARK, PCHunter...

In fact, Microsoft has a similar tool that is less than 4 MB in size. It can easily identify suspicious processes, malware, or pop-up ads. It is an enhanced Task Manager and a Huorong Sword alternative worth trying: Process Explorer.

Official website: learn.microsoft.com/zh-cn/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer

Hardware information is displayed comprehensively, with real-time updates for memory, CPU, GPU, and other data, making it richer than Task Manager.

Processes are also distinguished by multiple colors, and right-clicking lets you adjust priority, restart / suspend processes...

Some software ads hide themselves, and even tools like Huorong cannot block their pop-up ads, or they use names that are hard to distinguish, making it impossible to tell which software the pop-up window belongs to.

Process Explorer can directly find the culprit behind a pop-up window. Using the Find Window tool in the toolbar, move the mouse over a visible element, and it will directly identify the process behind the pop-up window or floating element. For many users who want to know "how to find out which software a pop-up ad comes from," this feature is especially intuitive.

Process Explorer can also continuously record an application's CPU, memory, GPU, and other usage data, making it easy to identify the key cause of system lag.

Process Explorer can also replace the system's default Task Manager. Once configured, pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc will bring it up directly for use.

Microsoft seems to provide only an English version, and many users in China have made Chinese-localized versions. It is recommended to use the tool downloaded from the official website, as it is safer, and the source is clearer and verifiable. If you usually pick software from the LIZHI.SHOP software store, you are probably also familiar with this habit of "choosing official channels whenever possible."

Official website: learn.microsoft.com/zh-cn/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer