 Process Explorer v11.33 running in Windows 7 |
|
| Developer(s) | Sysinternals, Microsoft |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 11.33 / 2009-02-04 |
| Operating system | Windows 2000 (SP4), XP, 2003, Vista and x64 versions |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | Process Explorer Homepage |
Process Explorer is a freeware computer program for Microsoft Windows created by Sysinternals, which was acquired by Microsoft Corporation.
Process Explorer is a system monitoring and examination utility and 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.
Until 2008 Process Explorer worked on Windows 9x/Me, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista including 64-bit versions. The current (Aug 2008) Process Explorer Homepage states that it works on Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 and upwards.
Recent versions downloaded with the Sysinternals Suite is supposed to support 64 bit versions of Vista and Windows 7 x64 with a second binary, procexp64.exe. However, procexp64.exe has problems on Windows 7 boxes because it needs to be in an editable folder so that it can extract the file from procexp.exe.
Contents |
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
References
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
- Process Explorer v11.33 page at Microsoft Technet February 4, 2009
- Sysinternals Suite at Microsoft Technet Updated continuously as of August 2009
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
