Windows – Cannot end processes with taskkill, get “the system cannot find the file specified” error

command linetaskswindows 7

Whenever I run the following in a command prompt:

taskkill /f /im chrome.exe

I get an error saying "the system cannot find the file specified".

I've tried that command without the /f option, and with other processes, but get the same result. I've researched the error message but haven't found anything useful.

How can I fix this? Alternatively, is there another way to kill processes from the command prompt?

I'm running Windows 7 Home Basic 32-bit, only doesn't work on netbook.

Tasklist gives the same error, and I've read somewhere that tasklist is not avilable in the Home Basic edition, so can the same be true for taskkill as well? Although I can see that both taskkill and tasklist executables exist in the system32 folder.

Best Answer

Not sure about Win7 Home Basic, but if taskkill.exe and tasklist.exe don't exist in Windows\System32, just use PsKill instead (also available as part of the PsTools Suite).

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