How to Add “Kill Not Responding Tasks” in Desktop Context Menu Under Windows Vista and 7

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Recently we posted about a cool "Kill Not Responding Tasks" shortcut which can kill all not responding programs on the fly:

Kill All Not Responding Programs On The Fly Using A Simple Shortcut

Today in this tutorial, we'll tell you how to add this shortcut in Desktop context menu so that you can access it quickly and easily.

It'll only work in Windows Vista and 7.

Following are the required steps:

1. Type regedit in RUN or startmenu search box and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor.

2. Now go to:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell (for Windows 7)
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\Shell (for Windows Vista)

3. Now we'll need to create a new key under "Shell" key. Right-click on "Shell" key and select "New -> Key". Give the new key name "Kill Not Responding Tasks".

4. Now right-click on the new key which we created in step 3 and select "New -> Key". Give the new key name of command.

5. In right-side pane, change value of "Default" to:

taskkill /F /FI "STATUS eq NOT RESPONDING"

6. That's it. Now you'll have "Kill Not Responding Tasks" shortcut in Desktop context menu.

PS: Windows 7 users can also set an icon and position for the shortcut.

To set the icon, select the key created in Step 3 and in right-side pane, create a new String value "Icon". Set its value to explorer.exe,9

To set its position in the context menu, create a new String value "Position" and set its value to:

Top (To show it at top)
Bottom (To show it at bottom)

PS. If you want a ready-made registry script to do the task automatically, download following ZIP file, extract it and run the desired REG file:

Download Registry Script

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This article was posted by VG in following section: Windows 7, Windows Vista.

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TheAslan

Close the dvd drive command is "nircmd.exe cdrom close F:" d'oh!!
daniel

How can I uninstall it please?
VG

^^ An uninstallation script is also included in the downloaded script pack.
JimW

If you don't want to or are afraid of messing with the registry, you can do the same thing with a shortcut.

Right-click on an open spot on the desktop - select new > shortcut from the menu.

In the create shortcut window, paste this command into the 'type location...." box

C:\Windows\System32\taskkill.exe /f /fi "status eq not responding"

Click next

Give the shortcut a title such as TaskKill.

You can customize the new icon by right clicking and selecting properties. Click the change icon button and select from the shell icons. I use the stop icon. I also put the shortcut on the quici launch bar.
Hal Shields

@JimW. Thanks for the shortcut tip Jim. I have put it on my taskbar and tried it out. It works great. I have Taskkiller installed but this is so much easier to use.
The context menu is a good idea but when my word processor crashes right-click does not work.
orbthefirstone

thanks for this. i tried it on WMP and it works like a charm.

*hates the WMP*