Powershell Tricks to Compress Images for Sharing in Windows 11

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10 Awesome PowerShell Tricks: Find the Most CPU-Hungry Processes

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🖥️💥 10 Awesome PowerShell Tricks: Find the Most CPU-Hungry Processes & More!

PowerShell isn’t just a tool—it’s a powerhouse for Windows enthusiasts and sysadmins alike! 😎💪 One of the coolest things you can do with PowerShell is track down those pesky, CPU-hungry processes that slow your system to a crawl. But that’s just the beginning! Today, we’ll explore 10 practical PowerShell tricks, complete with detailed examples and tips. Let’s dive right in! 🚀✨

1️⃣ Find the Most CPU-Hungry Processes 🔎🔥

If your PC feels sluggish, a runaway process might be the culprit! Let’s pinpoint it with PowerShell:

Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU -Descending | Select-Object -First 10 -Property ID, ProcessName, CPU

👉 How it works:

  • Get-Process lists all active processes.

  • Sort-Object CPU -Descending sorts them from highest to lowest CPU usage.

  • Select-Object -First 10 shows just the top 10 CPU-hogs.

  • The -Property flag ensures you see key info: the process ID, name, and CPU time.

💡 Tip: Save this as a script (cpu-hogs.ps1) to run whenever your system lags. Handy!

10 Awesome PowerShell Tricks: Find the Most CPU-Hungry Processes

2️⃣ Get a Quick Overview of All Processes 📊

Want a broader look at your system? Run:

Get-Process | Format-Table -AutoSize

🪄 This formats the output as a tidy table.
💻 The -AutoSize flag ensures no squished columns—everything’s easy to read!

3️⃣ Kill a Problematic Process Instantly ⚠️🔨

Sometimes, you’ve gotta take action! 💥 Kill a stuck or rogue process by ID:

Stop-Process -Id <ProcessID> -Force

For example, if you found a process with ID 1234 hogging your CPU:

Stop-Process -Id 1234 -Force

💡 Safety tip: Only kill processes you recognize—some system processes are essential! ⚠️

4️⃣ List Top Memory-Intensive Processes 🧠📈

CPU isn’t the only performance bottleneck—memory matters too! 🧠 Use this trick to find the biggest memory eaters:

Get-Process | Sort-Object WS -Descending | Select-Object -First 10 -Property ID, ProcessName, WS

👉 WS stands for “Working Set” memory, essentially what the process is actively using in RAM.

5️⃣ Monitor CPU Usage Over Time 🕒🔁

Want to track usage in real time? Let’s do it!

while ($true) {
    Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU -Descending | Select-Object -First 5 -Property ProcessName, CPU
    Start-Sleep -Seconds 2
    Clear-Host
}

👀 How this works:

  • Runs in a loop, showing the top 5 CPU processes every 2 seconds.

  • Clear-Host keeps the display clean—no clutter!

To stop it, press Ctrl + C in the PowerShell window. 🛑

6️⃣ Export a Process List to a File 📄💾

Want to share or keep a record? Here’s how:

Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU -Descending | Select-Object -First 10 | Export-Csv -Path "TopCPUProcesses.csv" -NoTypeInformation

💡 The Export-Csv cmdlet saves the info in a neat CSV file you can open in Excel or share with your team.

7️⃣ Create a Simple CPU Report 📊🖨️

Here’s a quick report you can email or paste into a doc:

$topCPU = Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU -Descending | Select-Object -First 10
$report = $topCPU | Out-String
$report | Set-Content -Path "TopCPUReport.txt"

✨ Now you’ve got a plain text report (TopCPUReport.txt) summarizing the top 10 CPU-heavy processes!

8️⃣ Check a Specific Process’s Details 🧐🔍

Curious about a single process? Let’s say it’s chrome:

Get-Process -Name chrome | Format-List *

👀 This gives you all available details: memory usage, file path, start time, and more!

9️⃣ Display Processes as a Grid View 📊🖼️

Want a GUI-like experience? 🖥️ Run:

Get-Process | Out-GridView

🎨 Bonus tip:
Use the built-in search box to filter processes by name, CPU, or memory usage—super handy!

🔟 Find the Oldest Processes ⏳🦖

Some processes might be ancient relics chugging along unnoticed! Find them:

Get-Process | Sort-Object StartTime | Select-Object -First 10 -Property ID, ProcessName, StartTime

💡 This shows processes that have been running the longest—they might be fine, or they might need a refresh! 🔄

⚙️ Putting It All Together: PowerShell CPU Mastery! 🏆✨

🎯 PowerShell’s real power lies in combining these tricks. Let’s build a quick all-in-one script you can run to troubleshoot:

# Get top 5 CPU processes
$topCPU = Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU -Descending | Select-Object -First 5

# Get top 5 memory processes
$topMem = Get-Process | Sort-Object WS -Descending | Select-Object -First 5

# Write to screen
Write-Host "Top 5 CPU Processes:" -ForegroundColor Cyan
$topCPU | Format-Table -AutoSize

Write-Host "Top 5 Memory Processes:" -ForegroundColor Yellow
$topMem | Format-Table -AutoSize

# Save to files
$topCPU | Export-Csv -Path "TopCPU.csv" -NoTypeInformation
$topMem | Export-Csv -Path "TopMemory.csv" -NoTypeInformation

🎉 Benefits:
✅ Fast overview of system health
✅ Reports saved for reference
✅ Easy to tweak and expand

🚀 Why PowerShell Rocks for Performance Monitoring ⚡

👉 Unlike Task Manager, PowerShell is scriptable! You can automate checks and create custom dashboards.
👉 It’s lightweight—no bloat, just pure data.
👉 Ideal for remote troubleshooting if you’re managing multiple PCs! 🌐

🔧 Troubleshooting: When PowerShell Can’t Get Process Info 🤔

Sometimes, you might see errors like:

Get-Process : Cannot retrieve information for this process.

✅ This often means the process is owned by SYSTEM or a protected service.
✅ Solution: Run PowerShell as an administrator!
🖱️ Right-click PowerShell ➡️ “Run as Administrator.”

🛡️ Final Tips for Safe Scripting ⚠️🛠️

💡 Double-check commands like Stop-Process—you don’t want to kill essential system processes by mistake!
💡 Use logs and exports (Export-Csv, Out-File) to share info with teammates or document your troubleshooting.
💡 Play around with the -Property flag to include other fields you care about—like StartTime or Path!

🌟 Summary & Your Next Steps! 🚀📈

👏 Congrats! You’ve now learned:

✅ 10 PowerShell tricks to spot and tame CPU hogs
✅ How to sort, format, and export data
✅ How to monitor performance in real time
✅ How to create lightweight reports and share them

🔗 Here’s your next move:

💡 Save your favorite scripts to .ps1 files.
💡 Set up scheduled tasks to run these scripts automatically—PowerShell can even email you reports if you want!
💡 Keep learning! PowerShell is vast, and there’s always a new trick to discover! 🌠

🎉 Final Words & Call to Action 💬

🗣️ What’s your favorite PowerShell trick? Share it in the comments below! Let’s build a community of awesome Windows wizards together! 🔮✨

💪 Keep your system smooth. Keep your scripts sharp. PowerShell on! 💥

💻 🔗 Follow us for more PowerShell power-ups, performance tips, and troubleshooting hacks!
#PowerShell #WindowsTips #CPUHogs #SysAdminLife

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