The Inverted Kill Lists

One of the latest really cool features of the KillProcess 2.40 release is the possibility to have inverted kill lists. Inverted lists works just as any normal list would with one exception, everything that is NOT included on the list will be swiftly killed when the list is executed!

Inverting a list is a simple matter of opening the Kill List Editor and then selecting "Edit List Info" and applying the checkbox as seen in the image below:

So what's the point with inverted lists then? Well many of you still do not have quad-core Intel processors and an endless amount of RAM memory on your machines. When running a computing intensive application (such as 3d-Studio Max, Matlab, Visual Studio, etc) or game (Half-Life 2, Counterstrike, etc) you would want your computer to be running that app as good as possible wouldn't you?

Well here is an example on how to use it effectively:

1. Tweak your computer (using KillProcess) so that a minimal number of processes run on the machine (like it did when you first installed Windows on your brand new PC - remember?) but is still stable (so keep those hands away from svchost.exe, csrss.exe, smss.exe etc...).
2. Create a fresh new kill list
3. Add ALL of the processes that are currently running on the machine
4. Invert the Kill List and...
5. ...Voila! You know have seriously cool inverted kill list!

TIP1: You now are in possession of a Kill List that basically would do what "Safe Mode" would do to the computer, but you are able to specify yourself what's supposed to be running on the machine.

TIP2: Step 1 can preferably be done on another PC that has a more "clean" & "fresh" installation of Windows.

To get the full potential out of your new list I suggest using the "Vicious mode" in KillProcess to avoid all of those confirmation questions that will arise once the list is executed.

Inverted lists can be dangerous!

Inverting kill lists can of course be (a little) dangerous if you are not aware of how the feature works. If you take one of your "normal" lists and convert them to a inverted list and then run it you may have performed the digital variant of shooting yourself in the head! KillProcess has therefore been designed to look a little different when using this feature:

There is also a brand new warning message that tries to explain the dangers with the feature: Your input counts!

The inverted kill list feature was suggested by Stephen Hoy and was implemented in KillProcess 2.40, since I found it to be a great idea. So there it is - your input and feedback counts and any idea good enough might find its way into the final product!

Keep posting feedback and enjoy KillProcess!

Best Regards

/ Roger