I’m sure you have come across instances of a task “Not Responding” right? There’s a quick way to kill all such processes without altering the registry.

Create a shortcut anywhere on your desktop [Right-click -> New -> Shortcut]. For the shortcut path, copy and paste the following line:

taskkill.exe /f /fi "status eq not responding"

You can add an icon to it if you would like to make it look pretty. =)

Going a step further, you can run the task using keyboard shortcuts. Something like your very own Ctrl + Alt+ Del. To do so, you can follow the steps I have mentioned in this previously dated article. I set it to Ctrl + Shift + End. Everytime I have a hung process that requires me to kill it, I just hit these keys.

[via Life Hacker]

Windows Media Player 11 (WMP 11) is an excellent music application for Windows XP. It has some lovely features in the form of an excellent media library management, a snappy control panel when you minimize it, and many more. The option to have a mini-control panel when minimized is pretty cool and handy. The only problem would be that it takes a lot of space on the taskbar. How would you like to minimize the window to the system tray and yet have all the features and total control that the small control panel gives when minimized?

Windows Media Bonus Pack for Windows XP contains a nifty tool that allows you to do all that from the system tray icon. It’s called the Windows Media Player for Windows XP Tray Control. The little icon runs in the system tray and provides “quick and simple access to your most common tasks in Windows Media Player such as volume and mute control, next track, play, and pause functionality with a single click.”

Once the Tray Control application is started, you can right-click on the icon and select “Hide Media Player”. This will actively hide the main application window from view. You can then pause/play a track by clicking on the icon among other options, effectively controlling the media player from the system tray icon.

That’s one less open window and more space on your taskbar. Pretty cool huh? =) [direct download]