Solved Task Manager - Missing Items in 'Options' Menu

QWERTYFREAK

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Hello everyone,

I've got a very minor problem regarding Task Manager in Windows 8. Under the 'Options' menu in the Menu Bar, I am missing an entry which allows you to Enable/Disable whether the Full Name (which you can give to User accounts via Computer Management > Local Users and Groups > Users) of User accounts is displayed next to their account name (which you give when you create a new User account). If you enable this, the full name of the User account is then displayed beside the Account name in the 'Users' Tab in Task Manager.

For example: You make a new User account called 'Johnny' but you give the account a full name as 'John Smith'. Under the 'Users' tab in Task Manager, the name 'Johnny' is displayed. If you enable showing the full name, it then says in Task Manager: 'Johnny (John Smith)'.

I believe the Option to enable/disable this in Task Manager is called 'Show Full Account Name' or something similar to that (I can't check as I don't have the option in my Task Manager anymore). It can usually be found underneath 'Show history for all processes' under Task Manager's 'Options' menu.

This is not the first time the entry has disappeared from Task Manager for me. I fresh installed Windows 8 yesterday on my new laptop to find after installing all Windows Updates and Drivers, moving on to configuring the OS to my preference, the option was not there. On my desktop however, after doing the exact same procedure for it, the option was there, so I had it enabled. When I returned there later (a few weeks or so), the full name was still displayed next to the account name in Task Manager, but the option to disable it was no longer there, so I couldn't hide the full account name thereafter. Very strange as I've not done anything to my knowledge that could of caused the entry to randomly vanish. On the last fresh install of Windows 8 on my desktop (when I was unaware of such an option in Windows 8's Task Manager), I believe when looking through the menus, the option wasn't there, but as I wasn't aware of its existence in the first place, I didn't know it should have been.

It's a very minor bug in Windows 8, but it's one of the many niggles in the back of your head that really irritates you. I find it very annoying myself as the option shouldn't randomly vanish, especially on clean installs.

Does anyone know what causes this? Or how to restore the entry without re-installing Windows 8? I shouldn't have to resort to that for such a minor bug.

What I have tried:


  • Removing full name for all accounts, reboot, re-apply full names, reboot.
  • dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth (required to fix a bug that Windows Update KB2821895 causes that breaks sfc /scannow. I tried this after finding that the entry in Task Manager wasn't there).
  • sfc /scannow (performed after dism fix - problems were found, but only regarding the Windows Store that is present on any Windows 8 fresh install, even without any Windows Updates. This was successfully fixed by sfc /scannow).
  • sfc /scannow performed again to double check (no problems found).


I am using Windows 8 Pro with Media Center. I know that the standard edition of Windows 8 doesn't provide a way (via GUI at least) to give user accounts full names. I've never used the the standard version of Windows 8 though, only Pro and Pro with Media Center.


Any help you guys could give me is very much appreciated. Sorry to make a fuss over such a minor problem, but a bug is a bug, and thus must be squashed. :)

TL;DR: 'Show full account name' (or something like that, forgot its actual name) is missing from the 'Options' menu in Windows 8 Task Manager.

Thank you!
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    N/A
Try clicking USERS tab & then Options.
See picture:

Screenshot (28).png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway
    CPU
    AMD K140 Cores 2 Threads 2 Name AMD K140 Package Socket FT1 BGA Technology 40nm
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Gateway Model SX2110G (P0)
    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    AMD High Definition Audio Device Realtek High Definition Audio USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Name 1950W on AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x76
    Screen Resolution
    Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x768 pixels
    Hard Drives
    AMD K140
    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name AMD K140
    Package Socket FT1 BGA
    Technology 40nm
    Specification AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
    Family F
    Extended Family 14
    Model 2
    Extended Model 2
    Stepping 0
    Revision ON-C0
    Instruction
    Browser
    Opera 24.0
    Antivirus
    Avast Internet Security
What David said. You can o0nly change that option from the USERS tab.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
Try clicking USERS tab & then Options.
See picture:

View attachment 25953

What David said. You can o0nly change that option from the USERS tab.

Thank you both, but that was the first thing I tried. The option is not there, regardless of what tab is currently active. If you're not on the User tab, it's still supposed to be visible in the menu list, just greyed out. This is the same for 'Show history for all processes' which isn't greyed out when the 'App history' tab is active, but is still visible in the list, no matter which tab is currently active.

Sorry, I should of pointed that out.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    N/A
That is odd.
I shall Google on it & see if I can find anything.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway
    CPU
    AMD K140 Cores 2 Threads 2 Name AMD K140 Package Socket FT1 BGA Technology 40nm
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Gateway Model SX2110G (P0)
    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    AMD High Definition Audio Device Realtek High Definition Audio USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Name 1950W on AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x76
    Screen Resolution
    Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x768 pixels
    Hard Drives
    AMD K140
    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name AMD K140
    Package Socket FT1 BGA
    Technology 40nm
    Specification AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
    Family F
    Extended Family 14
    Model 2
    Extended Model 2
    Stepping 0
    Revision ON-C0
    Instruction
    Browser
    Opera 24.0
    Antivirus
    Avast Internet Security
That is odd.
I shall Google on it & see if I can find anything.

It is, especially since it disappears at random - not caused by anything in particular. I think it's a bug with Windows 8, but even though it's a minor one, it really should be fixed. If there's any way to get the entry back in Task Manager without resorting to re-installing Windows 8, I'd very much appreciate knowing how to do so, even if the bug may again randomly occur. It'll at least give peace of mind until Microsoft fix it (if they ever do).

I tried giving Google a whirl to see if anyone else is having this issue, but I couldn't find anything - results just came back with Windows 7 Task Manager hiding the Tabs, Menu and borders (double clicking in white space toggles their visibility, a feature of Windows 7), or articles about the new Windows 8 Task Manager design (though none looking through the options in the menu bar). Tried re-wording my search, but still came up empty. I wish you good luck on finding any more information on it though.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    N/A
Resolved!

Issue Resolved!

Great news! I managed to resolve the issue. It turns out it's User Error.

In Group Policy, under Computer Configuration > Administrative Tools > System > Logon there is a 'Hide entry points for Fast User Switching' GPO (present since Windows Vista). I have this set to 'Enabled' as I don't use or like the Fast User Switching ability. I had used this previously in Windows 7, but in Windows 8 if it's enabled it seems it also removes 'Show full account name' from the 'Options' menu in Task Manager.

I disabled it (not configured) and the entry has returned in Task Manager. I can now proceed to enabling showing the full account names and then set the GPO back to 'Enabled'. This removes the option to Show/Hide full account names in Task Manager, but whatever it was set to before enabling the GPO, it will retain.

This is still technically a bug I guess as once the GPO has been enabled, it should force hide full account names, since it for whatever reason doesn't allow users to toggle their visibility in Task Manager thereafter anyway.

Oh well, sorted. :)
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    N/A
Glad you got it fixed & posting back will help others. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway
    CPU
    AMD K140 Cores 2 Threads 2 Name AMD K140 Package Socket FT1 BGA Technology 40nm
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Gateway Model SX2110G (P0)
    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    AMD High Definition Audio Device Realtek High Definition Audio USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Name 1950W on AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x76
    Screen Resolution
    Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x768 pixels
    Hard Drives
    AMD K140
    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name AMD K140
    Package Socket FT1 BGA
    Technology 40nm
    Specification AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
    Family F
    Extended Family 14
    Model 2
    Extended Model 2
    Stepping 0
    Revision ON-C0
    Instruction
    Browser
    Opera 24.0
    Antivirus
    Avast Internet Security
Good, thanx for posting the solution.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
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