Process Explorer

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Process Explorer

Process Explorer v16.02 running on Windows 7
Original author(s)	Winternals Software
Developer(s)	Microsoft
Stable release	v17.06 / May 28, 2024; 4 months ago (2024-05-28)
Operating system	Windows 8.1 / Windows Server 2012 and later
Type	Task manager and system monitor
License	Freeware
Website	learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer

Process Explorer is a freeware task manager and system monitor for Microsoft Windows created by SysInternals, which has been acquired by Microsoft and re-branded as Windows Sysinternals. It provides the functionality of Windows Task Manager along with a rich set of features for collecting information about processes running on the user's system.^[1] 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. As another example, it can show the command lines used to start a program, allowing otherwise identical processes to be distinguished. 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.^[2]

Process Explorer began in the early Sysinternals days as two separate utilities, HandleEx and DLLView, which were merged in 2001.^[3] Until 2008, Process Explorer worked on Windows 9x, 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 require credui.dll (which is only available since Windows XP/2003). Windows XP is supported up to version 16.05, Windows Vista until version 16.42,^[4][5] Windows 8.1 and Server 2012 until 17.05.^[6] The current version runs on Windows 10 and upwards. The open source software "Process Hacker" has been developed with the aim to replicate its functionality.^[7]

• 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's 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
• There is an option (in a process's context menu) to verify a process in VirusTotal
• There is an option to display DLLs loaded by process (View → Lower Pane View → DLLs); an option Show Lower Pane has to be switched on
• There is an option to display processes' handles which includes named mutants, events, sockets, files, registry keys etc. (View → Lower Pane View → Handles); an option Show Lower Pane has to be switched on
• In properties of a process a user can view the process's threads and threads' stack traces
• There is a command to create a process dump (mini or full) (Process → Create Dump)
• There is a Find command which allows for searching a handle or DLL which can be used to identify the process(es) holding a file lock
• There is an option (in handle context menu) to close a selected handle
• Version 15 added GPU monitoring

• Activity Monitor
• Ksysguard
• Process Lasso
• Resource Monitor
• Taskkill
• Tasklist
• Process Monitor – capturing file system and Registry activity.
• ProcDump

• 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 Archived 2010-03-18 at the Wayback Machine February 27, 2009
• Sysinternals Suite at Microsoft Technet Updated continuously as of August 2009