Kill all processes by user windows

edited I was not able to get the following code work on my XP (the documentation says it should work, maybe it is my computer), but in windows 7 it works without problems

taskkill /im arma2oaserver.exe /fi "username eq TCAGame_Svc50" /f

original answer More verbose, but worked for me on XP

@echo off
    setlocal enableextensions disabledelayedexpansion

    set "executable=arma2oaserver.exe"
    set "user=TCAGame_Svc50"

    for /f "tokens=2 delims=," %%a in ('
        tasklist /fi "imagename eq %executable%" /v /fo:csv /nh 2^>nul 
        ^| find /i "%user%"
    ') do taskkill /pid %%~a /f

tasklist will retrieve the list of processes based on executable name (/fi), in csv format (/fo:csv), without headers (/nh) and in verbose mode (v) to include the user name. The list of processes is filtered via a find command to only retrieve the list of processes for the desired user. The resulting list is handled via a for command that will use the commas as delimiters and for each of the records, the second field (the processID) will be retrieved. The taskkill will terminate the processes using the pid retrieved.

Multiple open and running windows on your desktop or laptop can lead the system to become slow and even face some errors. So you might wonder: can I stop all the processes running or kill all open applications in Windows 10?

Perhaps in seeking to terminate all running processes, the first thing you’re considering is forceful restarting. Forget about doing it – forceful restarting could lead to computer and system files damage. Instead, follow these methods on how to kill all the processes in Windows 10 properly:

Through the Command Prompt

Learn how to terminate Windows 10 processes in the Command Prompt, particularly unresponding ones. Do this through the following steps:

• Go to Search. Type cmd and open Command Prompt.
• Once there, enter this line taskkill /f /fi “status eq not responding” and then press Enter.
• This command should end all processes deemed unresponding

Via Task Manager

More recent Windows 10 versions have related processed bundled under a common cluster. End all the processes under a single cluster through right-clicking on that cluster and choosing End Task.

Freeware tool CloseAll is third-party software that automatically closes all running processes, leaving the user on Desktop. Simply open it and then press OK. KillThemAll, a creation of a Neowin user, also does the same task but gives users a chance to save their data. Take note, though, that it leaves Explorer.exe open.

Use PowerShell

Kill a process that runs elevated by opening PowerShell as Administrator. Type the command Get-Process for you to see the list of running processes. Kill a process by its name by executing this cmdlet: Stop-Process -Name “ProcessName” -Force. Kill a process by its PID by running this command: Stop-Process -ID PID -Force.

Clean boot your computer – This technique allows you to start Windows through only a minimal number of drivers and programs. However, you would need to restart your PC in order to get the desired effect. Here are some steps:

• Go to Start. Type msconfig and then hit Enter.
• Go to System Configuration. Once there, click on Services, check the Hide All Microsoft services check box, and then click Disable all.
• Go to Startup. Open Task Manager.
• Select every startup item and click Disable.
• Close Task Manager and then restart the computer.

How about if you want to end specific processes, programs, or apps in Windows 10?

Here are particular steps to take:

To end all background processes, go to Settings, Privacy, and then Background Apps. Turn off the Let apps run in the background

To end all Google Chrome processes, go to Settings and then Show advanced settings. Kill all related processes by unchecking Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed.

To end all Internet Explorer processes, use the Command Prompt as an administrator. Enter the command taskkill /F /IM iexplore.exe and then press Enter.

How to kill all the processes in Windows 11?

As you can see, stopping all processes on Windows 10 is pretty easy. But how can you do the same on Windows 11?

The new operating system comes with a number of improvements and upgrades. For instance, Windows 11 comes with a new design that features a centered Start menu and Taskbar. There is also a more Mac-like interface in place and lots of fixes for previously reported bugs.

With that, when it comes to quickly stopping all processes on the new OS, you can still use all the same methods as listed above for Windows 10. Namely:

You can stop all processes on Windows 11 via Command Prompt (see how to terminate Windows 11 processes via the Command Prompt above).

You can also stop all current running processes on Windows 11 via Task Manager, using CloseAll tool and PowerShell and, finally, by performing a clean boot of your PC.

Additionally, you can also set up a hotkey on your Windows 11 for terminating all unresponsive processes on your computer. Here’s how to do that:

• First, you will need to download the WinHotKey app via your web browser.
• After you have the WinHotKey app, open the program and follow the prompts of the WinHotKey setup wizard.

Once you have the app, you can assign a hotkey to a Task Kill desktop shortcut. Once you do that, you will be able to instantly terminate all unresponsive processes by simply using the Ctrl + Alt key combo whenever needed.

There you go – it’s fairly easy to learn how to kill all the processes in Windows 10/11 or just a specific group of processes. You can also tune up your computer for peak performance through using tools like Auslogics BoostSpeed, which effectively diagnoses your Windows system, cleans out junk files, restores system stability, and improves speed and performance.

Good luck and we hope you’ll have a smooth PC experience from here!

Computer programs or applications commonly have one or more processes that are executing to support the program. These processes are instances of the running application and may have one or many Operating System threads dedicated to receive computer resources. Each program thread may execute any portion of the process code depending on the program design. Unfortunately, some programs will have a process hang or freeze and will not allow the end user to kill the process from the Windows Task Manager. If you attempt to close a process by selecting the “End Task” menu option from the Task Manager and if fails to close, you can alternatively use the “Taskkill” Windows utility program to kill a process.

How to Kill Windows Processes Manually

Step 1 – Open the Windows Task Manager by depressing the “CTRL + ALT+DEL” keys simultaneously and selecting the “Start Task Manager” menu option.

Step 2 – Open the MS DOS prompt by selecting the “Start” and “Run” menu options. Enter “command” in the search text field followed by the “Enter” key.

Step 3 – Enter the following command at the DOS prompt followed by the “Enter” key to gracefully kill the computer process (allows you to save any unsaved work if possible):

Taskkill /IM myProgramFile.exe

Step 4 – Input the following command if the process will not close gracefully after completing step 3. Note that if you have multiple iterations of the process running on your computer, this option will automatically close all open iterations of the program.

Taskkill /f myProgramFile.exe

Step 5 – Kill a single instance of a process by determining the Process ID from the Task Manager and using this number with the TaskKill application. To determine the PID, select the “View” and “Select Columns” menu options on the Windows Task Manager. Check the “PID” check box and the associated identification numbers will be displayed. Enter the following command followed by the “Enter” key to kill the specific process ID:

Taskkill /PID 123

Step 6 – Kill all process associated with a user on the computer by entering the following command followed by the “enter” key.

Taskkill /F /FI “USERNAM eq Smith”

Taskill Parameter Options

processid – The PID that will be terminated by the TaskKill utility application.

Processname – The process name used by the TaskKill utility to close. Should not be used with the PID argument.

/SERVER:servername – This is the server that has the PID that needs to be killed. It is normally only used with the command when used on the LAN or network level.

/ID:sessionid – Kills processes that are hung in the given session ID. Not normally used on home computers.

/A – Kills all computer processes that are being run under all user sessions and must be invoked by a computer administrator.

/V – Displays relevant information about the actions being conducted.

Everyone knows how to kill a process in Windows using Task Manager. However, when you’re on a Terminal Server Environment with 20 other users and you need to kill all matching processes on Windows from Command prompt it is just not possible because there might be 100 processes running. But hey, if you ask me, I would simply force disconnect all users using Task Manager but then I might get into trouble! Anywho, you can use tasklist to list all Windows processes and taskkill to kill all matching processes on Windows from command prompt, similar to kill or kill -9 on Linux. The best part (knowing Windows and all, you can actually search and match filters while doing it; no … it doesn’t have grep but similarish!)

All of this is possible with the TaskKill command. First, let’s cover the basics. You can kill a process by the process ID (PID) or by image name (EXE filename).

Open up an Administrative level Command Prompt and run tasklist to see all of the running processes:

C:WINDOWSsystem32>tasklist

Image Name                     PID Session Name        Session#    Mem Usage
========================= ======== ================ =========== ============
System Idle Process              0 Services                   0          8 K
System                           4 Services                   0      9,720 K
Registry                       120 Services                   0      9,668 K
smss.exe                       444 Services                   0        484 K
csrss.exe                      628 Services                   0      2,004 K
wininit.exe                    732 Services                   0      3,256 K
services.exe                   804 Services                   0      7,584 K
lsass.exe                      824 Services                   0     12,408 K
svchost.exe                    996 Services                   0        344 K
svchost.exe                     96 Services                   0     19,960 K
fontdrvhost.exe                364 Services                   0        768 K
svchost.exe                    928 Services                   0     10,700 K
svchost.exe                   1040 Services                   0      5,244 K
svchost.exe                   1296 Services                   0      2,300 K
svchost.exe                   1304 Services                   0      5,376 K

In the example above you can see the image name and the PID for each process. If you want to kill the firefox process run:

C:>Taskkill /IM firefox.exe /F

or

C:>Taskkill /PID 26356 /F

The /F flag is kills the process forcefully. Failure to use the /F flag will result in nothing happening in some cases. One example is whenever I want to kill the explorer.exe process I have to use the /F flag or else the process just does not terminate.

If you have multiple instances of an image open such as multiple firefox.exe processes, running the taskkill /IM firefox.exe command will kill all instances. When you specify the PID only the specific instance of firefox will be terminated.

The real power of taskkill are the filtering options that allow you to use the following variables and operators.

Variables:

STATUS
IMAGENAME
PID
SESSION
CPUTIME
MEMUSAGE
USERNAME
MODULES
SERVICES
WINDOWTITLE

Operators:

eq (equals)
ne (not equal)
gt (greater than)
lt (less than)
ge (greater than or equal)
le (less than or equal)

"*" is the wildcard.

You can use the variables and operators with the /FI filtering flag. For example, let’s say you want to end all processes that have a window title that starts with “Internet”:

C:>taskkill /FI "WINDOWTITLE eq Internet*" /F

How about killing all processes running under the Steve account:

C:>taskkill /FI “USERNAME eq Steve” /F

It is also possible to kill a process running on a remote computer with taskkill. Just run the following to kill notepad.exe on a remote computer called SteveDesktop:

C:>taskkill /S SteveDesktop /U RemoteAccountName /P RemoteAccountPassword /IM notepad.exe /F

To learn more about taskkill run it with the /? command just like any other Windows command.