For seemingly forever, Windows has allowed the user to adjust the application’s process priority so that it receives more than it’s fair share of the system processor. While it’s generally discouraged, the processes priority can be adjusted from within Task Manager and it’s right-click context menu. At which point you are able to choose from priority ranging from Realtime to Low - all processes launch with a priority of Normal. Setting a user process as High priority is a manual task and must be set each time the application is launched.

Prio is a light-weight extension to Task Manager that allows for the saving of a processes’ priority though the same context menu you are already using manually above. With an application priority saved, the next time it’s launched Prio will apply the priority change silently and automatically.

While Prio’s main task is saving of priorities, it expands upon a few other areas that Task Manager is otherwise lacking in. Application processes are color-coded depending on whether the binary has been signed or not. Digital signatures, or lack thereof, is an easy way to tell whether a piece of malware is masquerading under the guise of a critical Windows process – a common practice used to hide the existence of infection.

Lastly, Prio also allows for the monitoring of network activity on a per-process basis through the addition of a new tab within Task Manager. Not only can you see the existing throughput but also the network address a process is communicating with.

Prio is free for personal use and compatible with all 32 and 64-bit release of Windows.

Download Prio