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Script to Display the Processes Running on a Computer

By Stephen Bucaro

Processes are the programs or tasks running on a computer. The most common way to view the processes is with Task Manager. To get a quick list you could use a script. Below is a script that displays the processes running on a computer.

Set objWMI = GetObject("winmgmts:\\.\root\cimv2")
Set colProcesses = objWMi.InstancesOf("Win32_Process")

strProcesses = ""

For each objProcess In colProcesses
  strProcesses = strProcesses & objProcess.Name & vbTab & "(" & objProcess.ProcessID & ")" & VbCrLf
Next

MsgBox(strProcesses)

WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) is Microsoft’s implementation of the DMTF (Distributed Management Task Force) WBEM (Web-Based Enterprise Manage) standard. WMI is an extension of the Windows drivers model that provides an interface through which scripting languages like Java Script and VB Script can access information and manage components of a computer like hardware, applications, services, security, processes, the file system, etc. locally and across a network.

The WMI is extremely complex and it would require a book full of alphabet soup to provide even a simplified description of it (and many books have been written on the subject). However, using the WMI is extremely easy. You access its incredible power by writing simple scripts. The Microsoft Scripting Center provides hundreds of scripts to perform common administrative tasks through WMI, and there are many other web sites dedicated to WMI scripts.

WMI a hierarchical arrangement of namespaces to organize objects. The example script creates a WMI object to access "Win32_Process" object's Processes collection. The root directory is named root. Four predefined namespaces reside below the root: cimv2, default, security, and wmi. The "Win32_Process" object resides in the cimv2 namespace.

• Scripts that access the WMI require Administrator rights.

Note: The script in this article is provided AS IS without warranty of any kind. Bucaro TecHelp disclaims all implied warranties including, without limitation, any implied warranties of merchantability or of fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk arising out of the use of the script remains with you. In no event shall Bucaro TecHelp be liable for any damages whatsoever arising out of the use of or inability to use this script.

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