Process Explorer
Encyclopedia
Process Explorer is a freeware
computer program
for Microsoft Windows
created by Sysinternals
, which has been acquired by Microsoft Corporation.
Process Explorer is a system monitoring and examination utility. It provides the functionality of Windows Task Manager
along with a rich set of features for collecting information about process
es running on the user's system. It can be used as the first step in debugging software or system problems.
Process Explorer can be used to track down problems. For example, it provides a means to list or search for named resources that are held by a process or all processes. This can be used to track down what is holding a file open and preventing its use by another program. Or as another example, it can show the command lines used to start a program, allowing otherwise identical processes to be distinguished. Or like Task Manager, it can show a process that is maxing out the CPU, but unlike Task Manager it can show which thread (with the callstack) is using the CPU – information that is not even available under a debugger.
Process Explorer is one of a set of administration and monitoring utilities available from the Microsoft
Sysinternals
website.
days as two separate utilities, HandleEx and DLLView, which were merged in 2001 Until 2008, Process Explorer worked on Windows 9x
/Me
, Windows NT 4.0
and Windows 2000
. Versions of Process Explorer up to 12.04 work on Windows 2000
; versions 14.0 and higher do not. The current version runs on Windows XP
and upwards. Version 15 added GPU monitoring for Windows Vista
and later.
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
computer program
Computer program
A computer program is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer. A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor. The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute...
for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
created by Sysinternals
Sysinternals
Windows Sysinternals is a part of the Microsoft TechNet website which offers technical resources and utilities to manage, diagnose, troubleshoot, and monitor a Microsoft Windows environment. Originally, the Sysinternals website was created in 1996 and was operated by the company Winternals...
, which has been acquired by Microsoft Corporation.
Process Explorer is a system monitoring and examination utility. It provides the functionality of Windows Task Manager
Windows Task Manager
Windows Task Manager is a task manager application included with the Microsoft Windows NT family of operating systems that provides detailed information about computer performance and running applications, processes and CPU usage, commit charge and memory information, network activity and...
along with a rich set of features for collecting information about process
Process (computing)
In computing, a process is an instance of a computer program that is being executed. It contains the program code and its current activity. Depending on the operating system , a process may be made up of multiple threads of execution that execute instructions concurrently.A computer program is a...
es running on the user's system. It can be used as the first step in debugging software or system problems.
Process Explorer can be used to track down problems. For example, it provides a means to list or search for named resources that are held by a process or all processes. This can be used to track down what is holding a file open and preventing its use by another program. Or as another example, it can show the command lines used to start a program, allowing otherwise identical processes to be distinguished. Or like Task Manager, it can show a process that is maxing out the CPU, but unlike Task Manager it can show which thread (with the callstack) is using the CPU – information that is not even available under a debugger.
Process Explorer is one of a set of administration and monitoring utilities available from the Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
Sysinternals
Sysinternals
Windows Sysinternals is a part of the Microsoft TechNet website which offers technical resources and utilities to manage, diagnose, troubleshoot, and monitor a Microsoft Windows environment. Originally, the Sysinternals website was created in 1996 and was operated by the company Winternals...
website.
History
Process Explorer began in the early SysinternalsSysinternals
Windows Sysinternals is a part of the Microsoft TechNet website which offers technical resources and utilities to manage, diagnose, troubleshoot, and monitor a Microsoft Windows environment. Originally, the Sysinternals website was created in 1996 and was operated by the company Winternals...
days as two separate utilities, HandleEx and DLLView, which were merged in 2001 Until 2008, Process Explorer worked on Windows 9x
Windows 9x
Windows 9x is a generic term referring to a series of Microsoft Windows computer operating systems produced since 1995, which were based on the original and later modified Windows 95 kernel...
/Me
Windows Me
Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me , is a graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft, and was the last operating system released in the Windows 9x series. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006....
, Windows NT 4.0
Windows NT 4.0
Windows NT 4.0 is a preemptive, graphical and business-oriented operating system designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor computers. It was the next release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems and was released to manufacturing on 31 July 1996...
and Windows 2000
Windows 2000
Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the...
. Versions of Process Explorer up to 12.04 work on Windows 2000
Windows 2000
Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the...
; versions 14.0 and higher do not. The current version runs on Windows XP
Windows XP
Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
and upwards. Version 15 added GPU monitoring for Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
and later.
Features
- Hierarchical view of processes.
- Ability to display an icon and company name next to each process.
- Live CPU activity graph in the task bar.
- Ability to suspend selected process.
- Ability to raise the window attached to a process, thus "unhiding" it.
- Complete process tree can be killed.
- Interactively alter a service process' access security
- Interactively set the priority of a process
- Disambiguates service executables which perform multiple service functions. For example, when the pointer is placed over a svchost.exe, it will tell if it is the one performing automatic updates/secondary logon/etc., or the one providing RPC, or the one performing terminal services, and so on.
See also
- Process Hacker - Open source process exploring utility with GPL license
- Process LassoProcess LassoProcess Lasso is a process priority optimizer for Windows developed by Jeremy Collake. It features a simple to use graphical user interface that allows for automating various process related tasks...
External links
- Process Explorer Official Webpage Microsoft Retrieved on December 29, 2008
- Using Process Explorer to tame svchost.exe - Advanced topics February 9, 2008
- Process Explorer Part 2 February 10, 2008
- Process Explorer Guide for Newbies February 27, 2009
- Sysinternals Suite at Microsoft Technet Updated continuously as of August 2009