Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2015 September 30

= September 30 =

Identifying a Google Chrome process
If I have multiple tabs open in Google Chrome (on Windows 7) and one tab causes my PC to lock up, I'd like to be able to use the Task Manager to close just the affected tab. I am able to bring up Task Manager + Processes, and I do see processes for all the tabs (plus a couple extras). However, I can't identify which process goes with which tab. So, I currently just start randomly killing the processes until I hit the problem tab. I see I can turn on various columns in the Task Manager + Processes window, but none of those seem to help. I had hopes for the "Command Line" column which seems to be the full command line used to spawn the tab, that would presumably include the title, but it seems to truncate at maybe 256 characters, which is apparently before it hits the title. Any other ideas ? StuRat (talk) 17:33, 30 September 2015 (UTC)


 * ProcExp and ProcMon (free from Microsoft) are the industry-standard tools for this sort of thing. Tevildo (talk) 19:49, 30 September 2015 (UTC)


 * I may try those. Do you know if either would solve this problem ? StuRat (talk) 01:06, 1 October 2015 (UTC)


 * That is, one can obtain them from Microsoft without payment, rather than their being devoid of Microsofticity. Just in case anyone's confused. Tevildo (talk) 19:51, 30 September 2015 (UTC)


 * A comma after "free" would have made that clear. StuRat (talk) 01:06, 1 October 2015 (UTC)


 * I recommend Process Hacker over ProcExp/Process Explorer. It's open source and has a lot more features. I don't think either utility will display Chrome tab names, though. ProcMon/Process Monitor tells you what files and registry keys are accessed by a process, which probably won't help here. -- BenRG (talk) 02:32, 1 October 2015 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the link to Process Hacker! Sandman1142 (talk) 12:54, 6 October 2015 (UTC)


 * What do you mean when you say your PC locks up? Apparently it's not a total system freeze, since you can apparently get to Task Manager and kill processes. Is it just Chrome that locks up, so you can't close the tab from within Chrome? In any case, no page should be able to cause a lock up, so this qualifies as a bug in Chrome (or, possibly, something else, like display drivers). If you want, you could check if there is already a Chrome bug report for your issue, and file one if there isn't. --71.119.131.184 (talk) 20:19, 30 September 2015 (UTC)


 * Seems to be a piece of malware that pops up an alert saying I have a virus and have to call some phone number, at which point they would want my credit card number to fix my problem ("my problem" apparently being too much money in my bank account). I close the alert and it pops right back up.  I can't select another tab.  I could kill and restart Chrome, but I might have something open in another tab, like if I am editing Wikipedia and try looking up something to add to the edit when the malware strikes.  If you have a suggestion of how to avoid this type of malware, I'm open to that too, but I also want to know how to identify a Chrome tab's process.  StuRat (talk) 01:12, 1 October 2015 (UTC)


 * Chrome's built-in task manager should solve your problem. Press Shift+Esc or choose More tools → Task manager in the menu. -- BenRG (talk) 02:32, 1 October 2015 (UTC)


 * I'll try that. Are you sure it allows that selection when an alert on the current tab is "unanswered" ? StuRat (talk) 14:03, 1 October 2015 (UTC)
 * I assume that your "malware" is site-based.
 * Step 1 - some less-than-careful website accepts an ad which injects malicious code (a pop-up, a redirect to a different site, etc).
 * Step 2 - That code in turn displays some fraudulent message.
 * Step 3 - The user tries to close the tab, but the tab somehow cancels that action or tells a gullible browser to display an "Are you sure yaddayaddayadda" instead.
 * Step 4: GOTO 2.
 * To break the chain, you have to strike early: if you get an URL, blacklist the domain. The most basic way is to open the hosts file and add a line like the following:  That'll break DNS resolution of the malicious site - which might result in an ad pane containing a (genuine) error message but nothing worse.
 * The underlying problem is that many new browsers behave as if they were written by the malware authors themselves. Many don't give much about user input. For example, common sense dictates that a tabbed browser should never open a new window unless a) the user clicked the "New Window" menu item (or used the hotkey), or b) the site has been explicitly whitelisted as new-window-friendly. However, there ain't one browser that does that. - ¡Ouch! (hurt me / more pain) 14:30, 6 October 2015 (UTC)


 * I would think the browsers should ask the user if they want to allow the tab to open, and contain a checkbox saying "Never allow this web site to open a new tab again". StuRat (talk) 19:40, 6 October 2015 (UTC)