How to restore the Process Name column in Process Explorer?

Currently, Process Explorer's window does not show the process name:

link text

(When I run Process Explorer as another user, the column displays correctly.)

I have tried dragging all the column handlers, but the process name column still will not appear. Right clicking the column bar brings the Select Columns dialog, where the Process Name checkbox is checked and disabled.

How can I fix that? I figure the easiest way would be to simply clear the settings from my registry, but I can't find the relevant key.

badp

Posted 2010-09-03T09:32:53.940

Reputation: 3 457

Removed by bad answer, give me a few and I'll answer the right question :) – JNK – 2010-09-03T10:44:34.050

@JNK, no problem, we're all human. – badp – 2010-09-03T10:49:29.730

How did you manage to hide it? – Default – 2010-09-03T11:55:44.500

@Michael, the registry key which held that column's width got deleted. Hardly something you can do with the GUI :) – badp – 2010-09-03T12:13:39.223

exactly, that is what's so confusing :P did you really edit this yourself in the register and then ask it here or did procexpl just wake up one day and say "hey, I think you can cope without the processname, I'll fix it for ya'" :) Just wondering if you made some special action when it disappeared I guess, it is a strange bug/feature – Default – 2010-09-03T20:18:21.770

@Default, Happened to me and tons of others. Some sort of strange bug. – Nick Whaley – 2013-01-04T15:43:36.307

To me this happened when the system run out of Windows USER objects (happened while reproducing and debugging a resource leak issue) – RnR – 2014-05-13T10:07:11.717

Answers

Using regedit, remove the key HKCU\Software\Sysinternals\Process Explorer, then start Process Explorer.

I would suggest to first Export the key, just in case.

harrymc

Posted 2010-09-03T09:32:53.940

Reputation: 306 093

2Adding 0 didn't work. Deleting the key worked. – Mark Jeronimus – 2016-07-03T08:14:46.717

If this happens regularly, you can use View » Save Column Set to save the state, and when the process name column vanishes again, use View » Load Column Set to restore the layout. – roeland – 2016-07-21T23:25:50.210

A quick comparing shows the problem was with me was lacking the 0 value in the HKCU\Software\Sysinternals\Process Explorer\Process Columns\ key, for some reason. I can now just add the missing value it in the backed up and get my old config back. – badp – 2010-09-03T11:50:10.463

+1 Harry! I was driving. Badp, sorry for the bum answer earlier. – JNK – 2010-09-03T11:56:29.113

The following did the trick for me:

Close Process Explorer. Make sure that it does not stay open in the tray.
Adding a REG_DWORD named 0 and with a value greater than 0 (column width) to HKCU\Software\Sysinternals\Process Explorer\ProcessColumns
Modifying HKCU\Software\Sysinternals\Process Explorer\ProcessImageColumnWidth and setting it to a value greater than 0.
Incrementing HKCU\Software\Sysinternals\Process Explorer\ProcessColumnCount by one.

andz

Posted 2010-09-03T09:32:53.940

Reputation: 41

slight typo: PrcessColumnCount -> ProcessColumnCount – Mark T – 2019-05-07T15:55:08.887

@MarkT fixed... – CJBS – 2019-05-20T16:30:17.077

Actually the typo is in the app - the correct spelling is PrcessColumnCount. – G-Wiz – 2019-08-30T22:29:48.993