"End Process" Doesn’t "End Process" In Vista [The Solution]

A lot of people have been encountering many problems with tasks not ending while using Windows Vista. For example, many report the problem while using P2P programs such as Azureus or BitComet. The actual program window would close. But, if you were to look in the Task Manager, the program would still be running under the “Processes” tab.

No matter what action you take, whether you click “End Process,” or “End Process Tree,” none of these would close the program, aside from restarting the computer. Not even the acclaimed Process Explorer. Nothing worked.

What made this worse was the fact that while the program in question was in the Task Manager, apparently frozen, you could not start another instance of the program until it was removed from the Task Manager (AKA: restarting the computer).

After much aggravation and searching for a solution, I discovered that, in fact, Vista is not to blame for this error. I was utterly amazed.

In fact, the problem was with ZoneAlarm… my firewall software. I’m not exactly sure why ZoneAlarm is the problem, but it is.

I uninstalled ZoneAlarm and tried using Comodo Firewall Pro. Free, just like ZoneAlarm.

After installing Comodo, I no longer experience this “End Process” error. Every task ends without even having to bring up the Task Manager.

Read a book.

Update as of 9/27/2008:

Commenter Alan referred me to this blog entry which explains why this error occurs. There is also a comment on that blog which explains things in even a little more detail.

DVI Vs. VGA On An HDTV Monitor

I’ve got a 26″ Magnavox HDTV monitor on my computer, dual screen along with a Westinghouse 22″. I’d had a problem that a lot of people have been having. The HDTV monitor’s picture was very blurry and almost distorted.

As far as connections, my NVIDIA 8800GT card has dual DVI outputs. So, both monitors were hooked up to DVI cables. My original 22″ monitor had a crystal-clear picture. The 26″, on the other hand, had a horrible picture, no matter what resolution or refresh rate I tried. I was beginning to get really frustrated.

Any research that I’d done online seemed to conclude that DVI was a far superior connection compared to VGA – a purely digital connection, compared to an analogue connection (VGA). But, being the skeptic that I am, I was skeptical. This couldn’t possibly be the best connection available. I could barely read the text on the screen.

So, I gave VGA a shot. My video card didn’t actually have a VGA output, so I got a DVI to VGA connector and a 6′ VGA Monitor cable. The cord had to have male connectors on each end in order to accommodate the adapter, as well as plug into the VGA port on the HDTV monitor.

Upon connecting the VGA cable (through the DVI adapter) into the video card, and the other end into the VGA port of the HDTV monitor, I now get an awesome picture. Crystal-clear like the 22″.

So, don’t believe the hype when people say that DVI is far superior to VGA. In some cases, it may be. But, not when it really matters… to me. DVI doesn’t carry vertical sync information.

Read a book.