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Displaying Process Properties

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View process properties for Windows 95

View process properties for Windows NT

Open Process properties

Process Properties for Windows 95

For Windows 95, the Process Properties dialog box contains one tab: General.

Process Properties General Tab for Windows 95

Entry Description
Module Name The name of the module.
Process ID The unique ID of this process. Process ID numbers are reused, so they identify a process only for the lifetime of that process. The Process object type is created when a program is run. All the threads in a process share the same address space and have access to the same data.
Priority Base The current base priority of this process. Threads within a process can raise and lower their own base priority relative to the process’s base priority.
Threads The number of threads currently active in this process.

Process Properties for Windows NT

For Windows NT, the Process Properties dialog box contains four tabs: General, Memory, Page File, and Space. Click the title of a tab to display that tab’s options.

Process Properties General Tab for Windows NT

Entry Description
Module Name The name of the module.
Process ID The unique ID of this process. Process ID numbers are reused, so they identify a process only for the lifetime of that process. The Process object type is created when a program is run. All the threads in a process share the same address space and have access to the same data.
Priority Base The current base priority of this process. Threads within a process can raise and lower their own base priority relative to the process’s base priority.
Threads The number of threads currently active in this process.
CPU Time Total CPU time spent on this process and its threads. Equal to User Time plus Privileged Time.
User Time The cumulative elapsed time that this process’s threads have spent executing code in User Mode in non-idle threads. Applications execute in User Mode, as do subsystems such as the window manager and the graphics engine.
Privileged Time The total elapsed time this process has been running in Privileged Mode in non-idle threads. The service layer, the Executive routines, and the Kernel execute in Privileged Mode. Device drivers for most devices other than graphics adapters and printers also execute in Privileged Mode. Some work that Windows does for your application may appear in other subsystem processes in addition to Privileged Time.
Elapsed Time The total elapsed time this process has been running.

Process Properties Memory Tab for Windows NT

Entry Description
Virtual Bytes The current size (in bytes) of the virtual address space the process is using. The use of virtual address space does not necessarily imply corresponding use of either disk or main memory pages. However, virtual space is finite, and using too much may limit the ability of the process to load libraries.
Peak Virtual Bytes The maximum number of bytes of virtual address space the process has used at any one time.
Working Set The set of memory pages touched recently by the threads in the process. If free memory in the computer is above a threshold, pages are left in the Working Set of a process even if they are not in use. When free memory falls below a threshold, pages are trimmed from the Working Set. If they are needed, they will be soft-faulted back into the Working Set before they leave main memory.
Peak Working Set The maximum number of pages in the working set of this process at any point in time.
Paged Pool Bytes The current amount of paged pool the process has allocated. Paged pool is a system memory area where operating system components acquire space as they accomplish their appointed tasks. Paged pool pages can be paged out to the paging file when not accessed by the system for sustained periods of time.
Nonpaged Pool Bytes The current number of bytes in the nonpaged pool allocated by the process. The nonpaged pool is a system memory area where space is acquired by operating system components as they accomplish their appointed tasks. Nonpaged pool pages cannot be paged out to the paging file; they remain in main memory as long as they are allocated.
Private Bytes The current number of bytes this process has allocated that cannot be shared with other processes.
Free Bytes The total unused virtual address space of this process.
Reserved Bytes The total amount of virtual memory reserved for future use by this process.
Free Image Bytes The amount of virtual address space that is not in use or reserved by images within this process.
Reserved Image Bytes The sum of all virtual memory reserved by images run within this process.

Process Properties Page File Tab for Windows NT

Entry Description
Page File Bytes The current number of pages that this process is using in the paging file. The paging file stores pages of data used by the process but not contained in other files. The paging file is used by all processes, and lack of space in the paging file can cause errors while other processes are running.
Peak Page FileBytes The maximum number of pages that this process has used in the paging file.
Page Faults The number of page faults by the threads executing in this process. A page fault occurs when a thread refers to a virtual memory page that is not in its working set in main memory. Thus, the page will not be retrieved from disk if it is on the standby list and hence already in main memory, or if it is being used by another process with which the page is shared.

Process Properties Space tab for Windows NT

Entry Description
Show For Space Marked As Use this list box to select the category of space (image, mapped, reserved, or unassigned).
Executable Bytes For the selected category, the sum of all the address space that this process is using. Executable memory is memory that can be executed by programs, but may not be read or written.
Exec-Read-Only Bytes For the selected category, the sum of all the address space in use with read-only properties that this process is using. Exec-read-only memory is memory that can be executed as well as read.
Exec-Read-Write Bytes For the selected category, the sum of all the address space in use with read-write properties that this process is using. Exec-read-write memory is memory that can be executed by programs as well as read and modified.
Exec-Write-Copy Bytes For the selected category, the sum of all the address space that can be executed by programs as well as read and written. This type of protection is used when memory needs to be shared between processes. If the sharing processes only read the memory, then they will all use the same memory. If a sharing process desires write access, then a copy of this memory will be made for the process.
No-Access Bytes For the selected category, the sum of all the address space that prevents a process from using it. An access violation is generated if writing or reading is attempted.
Read-Only Bytes For the selected category, the sum of all the address space that can be executed as well as read.
Read-Write Bytes For the selected category, the sum of all the address space that allows reading and writing.
Write-Copy Bytes For the selected category, the sum of all the address space that allows memory sharing for reading but not for writing. When processes are reading this memory, they can share the same memory. However, when a sharing process wants to have read/write access to this shared memory, a copy of that memory is made for writing.