I am always having to open the Windows Task Manager throughout the day to kill off processes that are annoying me for one reason or another.  Usually their cpu or memory usage is out of control, so they need to be taught a lesson.  As a result I always keep the Windows Task Manger running in my system tray at all times.  Another benefit of doing this is that the system tray icon shows the current cpu usage.

To make sure that the task manager is always running I have created a shortcut to it in my startup folder.  This way everytime I start up my machine the task manager will automatically run in the task tray.  To do this you can do the following:

1. Open your Startup folder, located at: C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
2. Go to the file menu and select New, then select Shortcut.
3. The dialog will prompt you for the location of the shortcut.  Type C:\WINDOWS\system32\taskmgr.exe
4. Click Next, then click Finish.
5. Right-click on the new shortcut and select Properties.
6. In the dialog there is a "Run" drop down box.  Select "Minimized" and click Okay.
7. Open the task manager and make sure that "Hide When Minimized" is selected in the options menu.

If you need even more info about the current state of your system check out the Process Explorer from SysInternals (recently acquired by Microsoft).  If you don't believe me that Process Explorer is awesome, check out some of the amazing things Scott Hansleman has used it for.