Releases: DavidXanatos/TaskExplorer
Task Explorer v1.7.1
TaskExplorer 1.7.1 is a focused maintenance and refinement release that further improves update handling, stability, and process protection. This version introduces a new Sandboxie-style online updater, allowing TaskExplorer to check for and apply updates directly, simplifying maintenance and keeping installations current with minimal user effort.
Several internal behaviors have been refined. The “Reset all Panels” function has been improved to behave more consistently and predictably across complex layouts. Process protection in the KSI driver has also been tightened further; in this release it is intentionally more strict than the protection model used by KSystemInformer. If this increased strictness prevents you from reaching a high security level in your environment, feedback is explicitly requested so the behavior can be evaluated and adjusted if necessary.
An issue where newly downloaded DynData was not applied until after a restart has been resolved, ensuring that updated dynamic data takes effect immediately. Overall, 1.7.1 builds on the 1.7.0 foundation with practical improvements aimed at robustness, security, and smoother day-to-day use.
Task Explorer v1.7.0
TaskExplorer 1.7.0 introduces one of the most substantial upgrades the application has received in years, modernizing the UI stack, improving driver robustness, expanding cross-architecture compatibility, and adding many new capabilities.
This version replaces the previous helper-process architecture with the newly introduced TaskHelper.exe, which now acts as the dedicated worker and service component. By offloading these responsibilities from TaskExplorer.exe itself, overall stability and responsiveness during privileged operations are significantly improved.
A major focus of this release is the KernelIsolator (KSI) driver. The process-protection logic has been thoroughly redesigned and no longer depends on DynData. This architectural improvement allows a large portion of the driver’s security features to operate even without up-to-date symbol information, increasing reliability across different Windows builds. Additionally, ARM64 compatibility issues that previously caused crashes in the protection layer have been resolved.
The user interface has undergone a notable modernization. TaskExplorer now uses Qt 6.8.3 together with Windows 7 compatibility patches, and the settings interface has been redesigned with sidebar-based navigation and icons instead of simple tabs. DPI scaling options have been added so the application renders correctly on displays of any density. The QWT graphing library has been upgraded to version 6.3, bringing smoother and more reliable charting.
Many new data columns and inspection tools have been added throughout the application. Memory view now includes an “original pages” column. Thread inspection provides the actual base priority, RPC usage, COM flags, and LXSS thread ID. Processes can now display CPU affinity and LXSS PID. Module view shows enclave information such as base address, size, and enclave type. A new window-finder tool allows users to drag a target onto any window to immediately locate its owning process, and the service view now provides a direct “open process” action.
Several behavioral improvements streamline navigation: the handle, module, and memory search windows now allow you to open the corresponding owning process simply by double-clicking a result. Additional security-related metadata has been added to the handle viewer, which has also been moved into its own dedicated section. The “run as” subsystem has been updated for better reliability.
Multiple bugs have been corrected, including a long-standing crash in the handle view, incorrect coloring of token privileges, ARM64 driver protection failures, and a corruption issue in the internal socket-list structures that was causing a memory leak.
With this release, support for 32-bit Windows has been removed, allowing development to focus on modern 64-bit platforms and ensuring the long-term maintainability of the driver and UI codebase.
TaskExplorer 1.7.0 is a major milestone that improves stability, security, performance, and usability across all supported systems, while laying the groundwork for future enhancements.
Task Explorer v1.6.6
This is a maintenance release, it updates TaskExplorer to the latest PHlib and fixing a few bugs.
Changed
- updated PHlib to version 3.2.25324
- improved process map handling
Fixed
- fixed token info not proeprly listed, broken in 1.6.5
- fixed issue with Environment enumeration
Task Explorer v1.6.5
This is a maintenance release, it updates TaskExplorer to the latest PHlib and VS2022 toolset.
Changed
- updated PHlib to version 3.2.25180.1655
- switched to VS2022 toolset
- updated Qt to 5.15.16
Task Explorer v1.6.4
[1.6.4] - 2025-05-04
Fixed
- fixed failure to update dyndata
- fixed crash when dyndata update failed
Task Explorer v1.6.3
[1.6.3] - 2025-05-03
Changed
- improved berformance with very big processes
- updated dyndata for latest windows
Fixed
- fixed issue with stack traces introduced 1.6.1
- fixed issue with run as Trusted Installer or as this user
Task Explorer v1.6.2
ChangeLog
Added
- added driver DynData updater, on start when the current DynData is not compatible with the windows kernel TE will offer an option to update the DynData
- Note: the updater extracts the DynData from regular SystemInformer canary update packages.
- added preparations (not enebled) to use the old driver on windows 7
Changed
- moved translations to translations.7z
Fixed
- incompatybility witn windows 7 introduced in 1.16.1
- fixed crash in module search window
- fixed performance issue with codepage detection
Task Explorer v1.6.1
ChangeLog
Added
- added ARM64 driver
- added translations
Changed
- updated code to be qt6 comaptible
- greately improved dark mode
- improved driver statis information on startup
- updated MiscHelpers.dll, improved finder
Fixed
- fixed Closing System Info closes also the TaskExplorer #34
- fixed handle leak in thread stack panel
- fixed bad performance on windows 10
- fixed issue where two instances were started when "Skip UAC" was enabled
Task Explorer v1.6.0
This update introduces significant enhancements, bringing the tool in line with modern requirements by incorporating many previously missing features from SystemInformer. Most notably, this release marks the first version with a fully signed driver, making TaskExplorer ready for professional production use.
Key improvements include expanded security options and enhanced process control features like freezing processes and adjusting efficiency modes. Several panels, including memory, services, modules, and threads, now provide additional columns and insights, while menus have been reorganized for better usability. The config folder has also been relocated to C:\Users[User]\AppData\Local\Xanasoft\TaskExplorer for improved integration with other Xanasoft Tools.
Numerous bugs have been resolved, and PHlib has been updated to version 3.2.25011 to ensure stability and compatibility. For a complete list of changes, please refer to the full changelog.
Task Explorer v1.5.6
In the latest release, version 1.5.6, several key updates and changes were made to improve overall functionality and performance. One of the notable adjustments is that Task Explorer (TE) no longer lists mounted VHD/VHDX files as disks, focusing solely on real hardware. This change aims to streamline disk management and ensure the system resources are utilized more efficiently by disregarding virtual drives. Additionally, the PHlib library has been updated to version 3.1.24258, continuing the effort to maintain compatibility with the latest technology and ensuring smooth operation.