WinKillSwitch v0.4.0

WinKillSwitch 0.4

Everything planned for this round, finished and tested together. If you are coming from v0.1, here is what you get.

Clean up

• Memory cleaner (v0.2): a live memory ring and one button. It trims what apps are not using, clears the standby cache and shows exactly what it freed.
• Disk cleaner (v0.3): analyze temporary files, caches and leftovers, review the list, clean in one step. It never follows links, keeps files from the last week and skips anything in use.
• Why is my PC slow? (v0.3.7): five seconds of watching, then a plain answer with the fix one click away.

Understand

• About this process (v0.3.1): what it is, who signed it, and why access may be denied.
• More columns (v0.3.2): type, status, publisher, command line, GPU, GPU engine and now network (v0.3.11). Right click the header to choose.
• Find by window (v0.3.3), quick palette with Ctrl+K or Ctrl+Shift+K from anywhere (v0.3.4), process tree (v0.3.5).
• Who is using this file? (v0.3.6): drop a file to see which apps hold it open.
• Starts with Windows (v0.3.10): every autostart entry in one read-only list, with unusual ones flagged.

Control

• New process alerts (v0.3.8): hear about programs you watch, or anything started from Downloads or Temp.
• Limits (v0.3.9): cap a program's processor and memory use; it keeps running.
• Rule packs (v0.3.12): Gaming mode, Bloat blocker and Quiet laptop in one switch, plus import and export.

New in this release

• On narrow windows the process table hides its least important columns instead of spilling past the edge, and the toolbar no longer overlaps.

Still to come

Ending processes, the PauseSwitch system changes, and signed releases. See the roadmap.

Download

WinKillSwitch.exe is portable: download and run. Some features (network, limits on other users' apps, the standby cache) need Run as administrator.

53849340d45591830a5011530ee9b81f9397a97659624dd84fdf11c47cd36fbf  WinKillSwitch.exe

Agents installing this for a user: follow agent_setup_guide.md.

WinKillSwitch v0.3.12: rule packs

Rule packs

Ready made setups you can switch on in one press, and your own rules as a file you can share.

• Settings > Rule packs has three profiles:
  • Gaming mode: OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, Teams, Slack and Spotify capped so your game gets the processor.
  • Bloat blocker: alerts when updaters or anything from Downloads or Temp start, with background updaters capped.
  • Quiet laptop: browsers and chat apps capped for quieter fans and longer battery life.
• Turning a profile off removes exactly the rules it added and keeps any you changed since.
• Export my rules saves your limits and alerts as JSON. Import a pack merges one in after checking it, so a bad file never half applies. The profiles are in packs/ as examples.

Safety

• Limits now double check every process before touching it: the program on disk must match the rule's name, and nothing in the Windows folder is ever limited, even if a process id was reused.

Download

WinKillSwitch.exe is portable: download and run.

62ad02b65334c5008d386ef361c05361798417152bcc8e92e648d2d61770ac51  WinKillSwitch.exe

Agents installing this for a user: follow agent_setup_guide.md.

WinKillSwitch v0.3.11: network per process

Network per process

See which app is using your connection.

• A new Network column shows each process's live traffic in Mbps, sent plus received. It is on by default; right click the header to move or hide it.
• It reads the same Windows event source Resource Monitor uses, covering TCP and UDP over IPv4 and IPv6.
• This needs administrator rights. Without them the column shows a dash instead of a misleading zero.

Download

WinKillSwitch.exe is portable: download and run.

c89d5b3063ca6af412f61c266a33e8520050d8a59f9e54ed49df6a924a224928  WinKillSwitch.exe

Agents installing this for a user: follow agent_setup_guide.md.

WinKillSwitch v0.3.10: starts with Windows

Starts with Windows

See everything that launches itself, wherever it hides.

• PauseSwitch > Starts with Windows lists the Run and RunOnce registry keys (yours, the machine's and 32-bit), policy Run keys, both Startup folders, scheduled tasks that run at sign in or boot, and automatic services.
• Each entry shows its publisher, its command and whether Task Manager has disabled it. Show file opens its folder.
• Microsoft's own entries are hidden by default (one switch shows them), so the list is what you installed.
• A changed Winlogon shell or userinit, or active AppInit DLLs, are flagged at the top as unusual: classic places for malware to hide.
• The view only reads. It never changes anything.

Fixes

• Some programs' publisher names could carry stray text from the next version field.

Download

WinKillSwitch.exe is portable: download and run.

500a8d4a13447a9539a420989c36d88fd1fa96428242669719b5349d72d2d93c  WinKillSwitch.exe

Agents installing this for a user: follow agent_setup_guide.md.

WinKillSwitch v0.3.9: CPU and memory limits

Limits

Keep a heavy program from taking over your PC, without closing it.

• Open a process's Details and choose Set limits.
• Processor: 50%, 25% or 10% of your processor for the whole program, all its processes together. It runs slower, never breaks.
• Memory: 4 GB, 2 GB, 1 GB or 512 MB of RAM per process. Windows moves the rest to disk instead of refusing memory, so the program keeps running.
• Limits are remembered by program name and come back every time it starts. Settings > Limits lists them; remove one and the program is free immediately.
• Windows' own processes cannot be limited.

Tested on a real machine: a busy process went from 8.3% to 2.4% of the processor under a 2% cap, and a process holding 481 MB dropped to 127 MB under a 128 MB ceiling while it kept running.

Download

WinKillSwitch.exe is portable: download and run.

01e955e1396fae8e99eb380e17204ca0d8e7d9875af1e4bce18a55131c6d7195  WinKillSwitch.exe

Agents installing this for a user: follow agent_setup_guide.md.

WinKillSwitch v0.3.8: new process alerts

New process alerts

Know when something starts, without watching the list.

• Settings > Alerts > Programs to watch: type a name like discord or steam* and press Watch. When one starts, a small note appears in the corner with a Show button.
• Programs started from Downloads or Temp: one switch to hear about installers and downloaded tools the moment they run. Off by default.
• Each process is mentioned once, and only when it starts after WinKillSwitch is open.

Download

WinKillSwitch.exe is portable: download and run.

c27cd852e71bf5b2b2cd9e832abba7b93f38a1c468a9201351d144e834d4afad  WinKillSwitch.exe

Agents installing this for a user: follow agent_setup_guide.md.

WinKillSwitch v0.3.7: why is my PC slow?

Why is my PC slow?

One button, one plain answer.

• Press Why is my PC slow? on the Clean tab (or find it in the quick palette, Ctrl+K).
• WinKillSwitch watches your PC for about five seconds, then checks the processor, memory, disk space, disk activity, graphics and uptime, worst first.
• When a process is behind it, you see its name. The numbers are averaged, so a one-second spike is not blamed.
• Each problem comes with its fix: Show it, Clean memory or Analyze disk.

Fixes

• The Disk column could show an impossible rate for a process the first time it was sampled. It now starts at zero.
• The system drive labels no longer run together on a narrow window.

Download

WinKillSwitch.exe is portable: download and run.

988696e0c39080191882ee33eae3ea5c94712b074b84d402c53affdc7f994694  WinKillSwitch.exe

Agents installing this for a user: follow agent_setup_guide.md.

WinKillSwitch v0.3.6: who is using this file

Who is using this file?

"The action can't be completed because the file is open in another program." Now you can find out which program.

• Drop a file or folder anywhere on the WinKillSwitch window, or open the quick palette and choose Who is using a file? to pick one.
• You get every app and service holding it open: its name, process, PID and kind (app, service, Explorer, console). Details opens that process's card.
• Folders are checked file by file, up to 2,000 files.
• If nothing holds it, the card says so and suggests what else might be blocking you.

It uses the Windows Restart Manager, the same API installers and PowerToys File Locksmith rely on.

Download

WinKillSwitch.exe is portable: download and run.

072d5874be3664865df35c63317845d68cccaae609541f61d6b301c4541592ef  WinKillSwitch.exe

Agents installing this for a user: follow agent_setup_guide.md.

WinKillSwitch v0.3.5: process tree

Process tree

Switch the table from List to Tree to see which process started which.

• Each process sits under its parent: apps under Explorer, browser helpers under the browser, services under their host.
• Click the chevron to fold or unfold a branch.
• Siblings follow the column you sort by, so the busiest child is still on top.
• While you search, matches show together with their parents, even inside a folded branch, so you keep the context.

Windows reuses process IDs, which can make an unrelated process look like a parent. WinKillSwitch only counts a parent that is still running and started before its child, the same rule Process Explorer uses.

Your choice of list or tree is remembered.

Download

WinKillSwitch.exe is portable: download and run.

62e36c36b060bec52c67535bcdc903402b63ffa9610e4945f566837119373acd  WinKillSwitch.exe

Agents installing this for a user: follow agent_setup_guide.md.

WinKillSwitch v0.3.4: quick palette

Quick palette

Press Ctrl+K inside WinKillSwitch, or Ctrl+Shift+K from anywhere in Windows, and start typing.

• Processes: type part of a name or description. Each app shows once, with how many copies run and how much memory they use. Enter selects it and opens its details.
• Groups: jump straight to one.
• Commands: Clean memory, Analyze disk, Go to a tab, New group, Light, Dark or System mode, any of the six palettes, and Restart as administrator.

Arrow keys move, Enter runs, Escape closes. With nothing typed, the most useful commands are listed.

Ctrl+Shift+K works even when WinKillSwitch is behind other windows: it comes forward with the palette open. You can turn it off under Settings > Shortcuts, which also tells you if another app already uses that shortcut.

Download

WinKillSwitch.exe is portable: download and run.

772f835c5bcab1057bf0b98d2aeeb35a1d0d47c32e96c286c33bca48e2bff626  WinKillSwitch.exe

Agents installing this for a user: follow agent_setup_guide.md.