Solved Taskkill RSSGuard Issue

• When I exit the app, it doesn't actually disappear; it stays in the task list indefinitely.
• I can kill the process manually by clicking "End Task" in the Task Manager GUI. This works every time.
• However, Command Line tools fail. Running taskkill /F /IM rssguard.exe returns: "ERROR: The process... could not be terminated. Reason: There is no running instance of the task."
• PowerShell Stop-Process and NirCmd also fail to remove the process, even though Task Manager clearly shows it as "Running."
• Because it stays in the task list, the folder remains locked ("Folder in use"), preventing me from moving or renaming it until I use the Task Manager GUI to kill it.

• OS: Windows 11 Version 25H2
• App: Portable version of RSSGuard
• Context: I use over 100 other portable apps without this issue; only RSSGuard fails to exit the task list and ignores command-line kill signals.

1. taskkill /F /T /IM rssguard.exe (Returns "No running instance").
2. Stop-Process -Name "rssguard" -Force (No effect).
3. nircmd.exe killprocess rssguard.exe (No effect).

1. Use Process Hacker (with its kernel driver enabled)​

1. Install Process Hacker
2. Enable the KProcessHacker driver (Options → Advanced → Enable Kernel Mode Driver)
3. Right‑click rssguard.exe → Terminate

1. Run Process Explorer as admin
2. Find rssguard.exe
3. Right‑click → Kill Process

3. Use PsKill (Sysinternals)​

Important Note​

glasskuter said:

I certainly did not know but here's AI's answer.Maybe it will be of benefit.

RSSGuard gets stuck in Task Manager but taskkill, PowerShell, and NirCmd all report “no such process,” that means the process has fallen into a state where the Win32 layer can’t see it anymore. That’s why scripts can’t touch it — but Task Manager still can.

Here are the only reliable ways to terminate it:

1. Use Process Hacker (with its kernel driver enabled)​

Process Hacker’s “Terminate” and “Terminate Tree” use the same low‑level NT API that Task Manager uses.This will kill the stuck RSSGuard process even when taskkill can’t.

Steps:

1. Install Process Hacker
2. Enable the KProcessHacker driver (Options → Advanced → Enable Kernel Mode Driver)
3. Right‑click rssguard.exe → Terminate

This works because it bypasses the Win32 API layer entirely.

2. Use Sysinternals Process Explorer
Process Explorer can also kill processes using lower‑level calls.

Steps:

1. Run Process Explorer as admin
2. Find rssguard.exe
3. Right‑click → Kill Process

If the process is in a “ghost” state, Process Explorer will still be able to remove it.

3. Use PsKill (Sysinternals)​

PsKill sometimes succeeds where taskkill fails because it uses different internal calls.


pskill rssguard.exe
Not as strong as Process Hacker, but worth trying.

4. Last‑resort workaround: restart Explorer
If the stuck process is locking the folder, restarting Explorer will often release the handle:

Code

taskkill /F /IM explorer.exe<br>start explorer.exe
This doesn’t kill RSSGuard itself, but it frees the folder so you can move/delete/update it.

Important Note​

There is no scriptable method (CMD, PowerShell, NirCmd, etc.) that can kill a process once it drops out of the Win32 process table. Only tools that call the native NT kernel API can terminate it — which is why Task Manager always works.

If you need automation, the only option is:
5. Use Process Hacker’s command‑line tool (ph.exe)
Example:
ph.exe terminate rssguard.exe
This uses the same NT‑level termination as the GUI.

Click to expand...

var objShell = new ActiveXObject("Shell.Application");

// Kill
objShell.ShellExecute("pskill64.exe", "-t -accepteula rssguard.exe", "", "runas", 0);

// Wait 1 second
WScript.Sleep(1000);

// Play WAV file using SAPI
var oVoice = new ActiveXObject("SAPI.SpVoice");
var oStream = new ActiveXObject("SAPI.SpFileStream");

// Change path to your WAV file
oStream.Open("C:\\Windows\\Media\\ding.wav");
oVoice.SpeakStream(oStream);

// Close the stream
oStream.Close();