How to find where a running program is installed

Finding a running program's folder takes two clicks in Pulse by Zaweba. Select the app in its Live table and choose Open file location, from the App menu, the right-click menu or the button above the table. File Explorer opens on the folder holding the app's program file.

This is the quickest way to answer "what is this thing?" when an unfamiliar name turns up using CPU, memory or network.

Why you'd want to know

There are plenty of reasons. A program you don't remember installing is busy in the background. You want to find a settings file or a log that lives beside the program. You need to know which of two versions is running. Or something is using a lot of data and you want to be sure it is what it claims to be.

The folder usually tells you a lot. A program inside a well-known company's folder under Program Files is very likely to be what it says. One running from a temporary folder or an odd place in your user profile deserves a closer look.

Finding the app in the first place

Open Pulse and go to the Live page (Ctrl+1). Pulse lists apps rather than single processes: every process of one program is gathered into a single row, with the program's icon and a friendly name read from its own version information. That makes it easier to recognise things than a long list of process names.

If you know roughly what you're looking for, type part of the name in the Find box to filter the table. If you're hunting for whatever is busy, click a column heading such as CPU, Memory, Disk write or the network column to sort biggest first. The table updates every second without losing your selection, so the row you clicked stays selected while you reach for the menu.

Opening the folder

With the row selected, use Open file location. File Explorer opens with the folder that holds the program's exe. From there you can look at the file's properties in Explorer for its publisher and version, see what else is in the folder, or find the program's uninstaller.

Mistakes to avoid

Don't delete files from the folder just because you don't recognise them. Many programs keep their parts together and will break if anything goes missing. If you want rid of a program, uninstall it through Windows' installed apps list.

Don't assume a familiar name means a familiar program. The folder is the better clue. Equally, don't assume an unfamiliar name is harmful; plenty of helpers belong to drivers, printers and updaters you installed long ago.

Stopping it if you need to

If the program shouldn't be running, Pulse can stop it. Select the row and choose End task from the App menu, the right-click menu, the button above the table or the Delete key. After a red confirmation, Pulse ends every process of that app. Bear in mind that a program set to start with Windows may come back next time unless you change its own settings or uninstall it.

Pulse by Zaweba runs as a normal user, so it shows you things and offers these two actions without needing administrator rights.