If you’ve never heard of it before, don’t worry. Here’s how to get Process Lasso, what it does, and whether or not you should stick with the free version or upgrade to premium.
What Is Process Lasso?
Process Lasso is, essentially, a bundle of optimization tools. The software controls which applications can use which CPU cores and threads.
Process Lasso is by no means the only way to manually configure your CPU prioritization, but it is one of the only programs to do so automatically. If you’ve already tried to use Windows Task Manager to manage your CPU cores and found it imprecise, Process Lasso might be exactly what you need.
How to Download and Install Process Lasso
Process Lasso can be downloaded on the Bitsum homepage, located here. The program is available for free; however, there is a premium license available for a price. We’ll get more into that, and the benefits of upgrading, later.
Once downloaded, Process Lasso is easily installed by launching the executable.
Process Lasso: An Overview
Process Lasso provides a much more comprehensive view of your system than Windows Task Manager.
Some of this information might overwhelming, but using Process Lasso is quite simple. Let’s have a look at what you can do with this program out of the box.
It’s important to note that running Process Lasso as it comes configured by default is enough to have a considerable improvement on your system. This is because of a function known as ProBalance, which we’ll also get into later.
Getting Started & Setting Up
ProBalance can be best jumped into by having a look at the Main dropdown menu.
Here we’ll find some general functions, such as power settings for your PC or a toggle for multiple users. The first settings you’ll want to consider enabling are as follows:
ProBalance: Hitting ProBalance Enabled will start the ProBalance Algorithm. This setting comes enabled by default and allows Process Lasso to dynamically adjust your CPU priorities with little to no performance overhead. This will, in general, improve responsiveness and overall performance. You can read more about ProBalance on Bitsum’s website. SmartTrim: Pressing SmartTrim Enabled will allow Process Lasso to halt or deprioritize certain processes when performance thresholds are reached. This setting is great for lower-end machines but might cause certain programs to behave unusually. IdleSaver: Hitting IdleSaver Enabled enables a power plan that Process Lasso will enact when the system goes idle. This allows the user to run a high-performance profile while active, but save energy while inactive. Performance Mode: Pressing Performance Mode Enabled will bring all of your CPU cores out of any applicable low power state, to maximize your performance in a burst. It’s not recommended to leave it on all of the time, but can be worth it if you’d like to see exactly how much of a difference Process Lasso can make.
All of these functions can be easily toggled by right-clicking on the program’s taskbar icon.
Other Notable Features
Automated functions are all good and well, but how do we really take control of our CPU?
Many of the functions native to Windows Task Manager can be replicated from this main screen. Right Click on a program and you’ll have immediate access to modifying the CPU Priority and CPU Affinity. You can also modify the different thread priorities and core attributes, just as you would in Windows Task Manager.
If you have a few active processes on your system that might not need all that power, you can select multiple processes at once by holding Ctrl as you click.
You may also notice two options available in the right-click menu. These are called Induce Performance Mode and Exclude from ProBalance, and they can come in great handy when controlling your processor and the threads on it.
By setting a program to Induce Performance Mode, that program will activate all associated cores at all times while running. This can result in a considerable increase in performance.
By contrast, Excluding a program from ProBalance will prevent Process Lasso from modifying it automatically. This could be handy if the program is particularly unstable.
Process Lasso Free Version VS Premium
Everything discussed so far in Process Lasso is available for free, for an indefinite trial period. However, Process Lasso does have a premium version available, on either a subscription or a one-time purchase basis.
You can take a look at the comparison of free versus premium on Bitsum’s website. As you can see, you’ll have access to the majority of features in the free version, with some features being available on a timed basis, and others entirely locked to the premium version.
Aside from better support and access to older versions, the main benefit of upgrading to the premium version would be the Processor Group Extender. This function has a relatively niche application, but can be crucial if you’re struggling to optimize the performance of one specific program.
Certain programs, especially those coded on earlier versions of Windows, struggle to take advantage of more than one CPU core. Processor Group Extender is an additional configurable algorithm that can allow these programs to make use of the full CPU.
The other premium features, while handy for power users, will hardly give you an increase in performance. They mostly relate to manipulating schedules, or setting certain thresholds on individual programs.
Getting the Most Out of Your Machine
You paid for it, so make sure you use it right. Having your CPU threads efficiently organized for you can considerably improve performance and responsiveness, in anything from browsers, games, or work applications.
Whether you’re a casual user out to set it and forget it, or a power user who needs to squeeze some extra performance out of their rig, there’s always something available for you to configure or tweak on Windows.
