Decide priority for the processes running on your system

Prio - Process Priority Saver.

This compact program allows you to save the priority you specify for any process.

How to use -

•    Start the Task Manager.

•    Right-click a process and select Set Priority.

•    Set the priority you want for the process.



Prio will save the applied changes and each time you start this process from now on, it will set the saved priority for it. You will not have to change the priority manually any more

What is the priority of an application?

Windows is a multitasking system. It means that a lot of various applications are running simultaneously in it. You directly work with some of them, but some of them work invisibly and independently. The priority of an application is a parameter that tells the system which task has priority over other tasks. For example, if there are two programs that are running simultaneously and with the same priority, they will have equal shares of the processor time. But in case you set a higher priority for one of them, the program that has this higher priority will use all the free processor time while the one with a lower priority will use only the rest of it. For example, if you have an application for rendering a video clip running on your computer, it will use the free processor time sharing it equally with, say, Explorer. It will result in Explorer working jerkily... But if you set a lower priority for the rendering program, it will use only the time that Explorer does not need. Explorer will work more smoothly and faster. It is also convenient to set a higher priority for multimedia players - the playback will be smoother. If you have some database service running on your computer, it is useful to set a lower priority for it so that it does not interfere with the work of those applications you are using at the moment. You can change the priority of processes on the Processes tab of Task Manager. Prio automatically detects any changes in priority and saves them in its settings. Next time you start this application, its priority will be restored.

Interface enhancements for the standard Task Manager. 

Processes tab.

Prio enhances the standard Processes tab with useful tooltips containing detailed information about each running process: its name, manufacturer, version and full path to the executable file. It also shows which system services are currently running in each process, if there are any. Prio adds a check box specifying whether the priority of this application should be restored to the standard popup menu, as well as the command for switching to one of the services that are currently in this process.Besides, the digital signature of an executable file is verified for each process. Processes that possess such a signature will be highlighted in green, processes without a signature will be highlighted in red. If you are sure about the origin of a process while its executable file has no digital signature, you can mark is as valid using the "Treat As Valid" menu item and it will be highlighted in green. If the executable file of this process is changed, it will become red again. What is a digital signature for? An electronic digital signature is an attribute of an electronic document used to protect it against forgery and verify its authenticity. A lot of malicious software disguises itself as Windows system processes. It is possible to forge the name of an executable file, but it is impossible to forge its digital signature. With Prio, you can always analyze the list of running processes in order to check the digital signature of their files or their network activity.

Services tab.

Prio creates the additional Services tab where you can view all installed system services with their statuses, start them, stop them and change the method they are started with. There are also tooltips with the description of each service (if there is such information for it).

TCP/IP tab.

Prio uses the additional TCP/IP tab to display all established TCP connections and all open ports (TCP and UDP). Both statistical data (the number of sent and received bytes) and rate is shown for each connection. There are also useful tooltips showing information about the process that established this connection. Besides, you can go to such processes immediately via the popup menu.

Silent Elevation.

What is Silent Elevation for? It happens that you have to often launch a software under administrative access level (e.g. Task Manager or Visual Studio) and every time go through UAC (User Access Control) request. However for safety reason it would be wrong to disable UAC. In such cases the new functionality of Prio "Silent Elevation" is very helpful. It allows specifying a given software for the administrative launch without UAC request. This feature significantly improves the usability without threatening the system safety. How to Enable Silent Elevation? All you need to do is to right-click a process in the Processes tab and check the box 'Silent Elevation'. The selected processes along with other Prio settings are saved for the current user profile in the file %APPDATA%\prio.ini. How Does Silent Elevation Work? Silent Elevation is executed by the Prio service which can hold the launch of the processes marked as 'Silent Elevation' and launch their copies under the current user account but with the administrative rights, if the current user has them.