In one of our previous articles I presented to you the Task Manager tool. I talked about its features and how to use it to handle your computer better. In this article I will show you how to give or block user access to this powerful tool. All you have to do is to download a small archive and run the appropriate file, depending on your needs. It is as easy as that.

How to enable the Task Manager

If you can't open the Task Manager, it might be for various reasons: it might be restricted by another user with administrator permissions, you might have a virus, etc. When disabled, if you right click on the taskbar, you will see the Task Manager grayed out like in the screenshot below.

To enable the Task Manager, download the file attached at the bottom of this article and extract it. In the archive you will find a file called 'Taskmgr_Enabler.reg'. Double click on it. Then, Windows Vista will prompt you about your decision to add the data contained in the file to the registry.

After you have clicked on the Yes button, Windows Vista will tell you if the data was added to the registry or not.

Now, the Task Manager is enabled again.

How to disable the Task Manager

If, for some reason, you want to disable the Task Manager, download the archive below and run the 'Taskmgr_Disabler.reg' file. You will receive the same prompts as above.

NOTE: If you followed the above steps to enable this tool and the Task Manager still doesn't work, then you might have a virus. The virus may have blocked your access to the Task Manager and other similar tools that might help you to find, close and delete that virus. To get rid of the virus, scan your computer with your antivirus or use a different antivirus than the one you currently had installed. Chances are, if the installed antivirus didn't detect your virus when it got on your computer, it won't detect it when you will scan to find that virus.

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