KSysGuard

The System Load page

Track and control the processes running in your system.

General

KSysGuard, also known as KDE System Guard and KDE System Monitor, is designed to make simple process control available to a user without needing to do any special setup - the defaults are usually perfectly adequate. There are two worksheets - the System Load page, pictured above, and the Process Table.

System Load

The System Load screen has three displays, each representing one of the load considerations - CPU History, Memory and Swap History and Network History. If you hover over the title-bar of each section you will see detailed analysis together with a colour-key.

The Process Table

The All Processes view by default gives you an alphabetical order list of all processes running. Clicking on any column header will make this the sort column. If you have a runaway process you will find the All Processes, Tree view most useful. You can also elect to see sub-sets of the processes, by owner or program.

The alphabetical list of processes

The tree view

Hints and Tips

Ctrl + Esc brings up the Processes part of KSysGuard, which is very helpful when you are trying to find which application is using too many resources.

In KRunner (Alt + F2 or right click on the desktop and select Run Command... ) there is a tiny icon to the left of the entry bar - it looks like a microwave oven - that also brings up the Process Table.