Process.GetProcesses Method

Definition

Creates an array of new Process components and associates them with existing process resources.

Overloads

GetProcesses()

Creates a new Process component for each process resource on the local computer.

GetProcesses(String)

Creates a new Process component for each process resource on the specified computer.

GetProcesses()

Creates a new Process component for each process resource on the local computer.

public:
 static cli::array <System::Diagnostics::Process ^> ^ GetProcesses();
public static System.Diagnostics.Process[] GetProcesses ();
[System.Runtime.Versioning.SupportedOSPlatform("maccatalyst")]
[System.Runtime.Versioning.UnsupportedOSPlatform("ios")]
[System.Runtime.Versioning.UnsupportedOSPlatform("tvos")]
public static System.Diagnostics.Process[] GetProcesses ();
static member GetProcesses : unit -> System.Diagnostics.Process[]
[<System.Runtime.Versioning.SupportedOSPlatform("maccatalyst")>]
[<System.Runtime.Versioning.UnsupportedOSPlatform("ios")>]
[<System.Runtime.Versioning.UnsupportedOSPlatform("tvos")>]
static member GetProcesses : unit -> System.Diagnostics.Process[]
Public Shared Function GetProcesses () As Process()

Returns

An array of type Process that represents all the process resources running on the local computer.

Attributes

Examples

The following example retrieves information of the current process, processes running on the local computer, all instances of Notepad running on the local computer, and a specific process on the local computer. It then retrieves information for the same processes on a remote computer.

#using <System.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Diagnostics;
using namespace System::ComponentModel;
int main()
{   
   // Get the current process.    
   Process^ currentProcess = Process::GetCurrentProcess();

   // Get all processes running on the local computer.
   array<Process^>^localAll = Process::GetProcesses();

   // Get all instances of Notepad running on the local computer.
   // This will return an empty array if notepad isn't running.
   array<Process^>^localByName = Process::GetProcessesByName("notepad");

   // Get a process on the local computer, using the process id.
   // This will throw an exception if there is no such process.
   Process^ localById = Process::GetProcessById(1234);


   // Get processes running on a remote computer. Note that this
   // and all the following calls will timeout and throw an exception
   // if "myComputer" and 169.0.0.0 do not exist on your local network.

   // Get all processes on a remote computer.
   array<Process^>^remoteAll = Process::GetProcesses("myComputer");

   // Get all instances of Notepad running on the specific computer, using machine name.
   array<Process^>^remoteByName = Process::GetProcessesByName( "notepad", "myComputer" );
   
   // Get all instances of Notepad running on the specific computer, using IP address.
   array<Process^>^ipByName = Process::GetProcessesByName( "notepad", "169.0.0.0" );
   
   // Get a process on a remote computer, using the process id and machine name.
   Process^ remoteById = Process::GetProcessById( 2345, "myComputer" );
}
using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.ComponentModel;

namespace MyProcessSample
{
    class MyProcess
    {
        void BindToRunningProcesses()
        {
            // Get the current process.
            Process currentProcess = Process.GetCurrentProcess();

            // Get all processes running on the local computer.
            Process[] localAll = Process.GetProcesses();

            // Get all instances of Notepad running on the local computer.
            // This will return an empty array if notepad isn't running.
            Process[] localByName = Process.GetProcessesByName("notepad");

            // Get a process on the local computer, using the process id.
            // This will throw an exception if there is no such process.
            Process localById = Process.GetProcessById(1234);

            // Get processes running on a remote computer. Note that this
            // and all the following calls will timeout and throw an exception
            // if "myComputer" and 169.0.0.0 do not exist on your local network.

            // Get all processes on a remote computer.
            Process[] remoteAll = Process.GetProcesses("myComputer");

            // Get all instances of Notepad running on the specific computer, using machine name.
            Process[] remoteByName = Process.GetProcessesByName("notepad", "myComputer");

            // Get all instances of Notepad running on the specific computer, using IP address.
            Process[] ipByName = Process.GetProcessesByName("notepad", "169.0.0.0");

            // Get a process on a remote computer, using the process id and machine name.
            Process remoteById = Process.GetProcessById(2345, "myComputer");
        }

        static void Main()
        {
            MyProcess myProcess = new MyProcess();
            myProcess.BindToRunningProcesses();
        }
    }
}
Imports System.Diagnostics
Imports System.ComponentModel

Namespace MyProcessSample
    Class MyProcess
        Sub BindToRunningProcesses()
            ' Get the current process. You can use currentProcess from this point
            ' to access various properties and call methods to control the process.
            Dim currentProcess As Process = Process.GetCurrentProcess()

            ' Get all processes running on the local computer.
            Dim localAll As Process() = Process.GetProcesses()

            ' Get all instances of Notepad running on the local computer.
            ' This will return an empty array if notepad isn't running.
            Dim localByName As Process() = Process.GetProcessesByName("notepad")

            ' Get a process on the local computer, using the process id.
            ' This will throw an exception if there is no such process.
            Dim localById As Process = Process.GetProcessById(1234)


            ' Get processes running on a remote computer. Note that this
            ' and all the following calls will timeout and throw an exception
            ' if "myComputer" and 169.0.0.0 do not exist on your local network.

            ' Get all processes on a remote computer.
            Dim remoteAll As Process() = Process.GetProcesses("myComputer")

            ' Get all instances of Notepad running on the specific computer, using machine name.
            Dim remoteByName As Process() = Process.GetProcessesByName("notepad", "myComputer")

            ' Get all instances of Notepad running on the specific computer, using IP address.
            Dim ipByName As Process() = Process.GetProcessesByName("notepad", "169.0.0.0")

            ' Get a process on a remote computer, using the process id and machine name.
            Dim remoteById As Process = Process.GetProcessById(2345, "myComputer")
        End Sub

        Shared Sub Main()
            Dim myProcess As New MyProcess()
            myProcess.BindToRunningProcesses()
        End Sub

    End Class

End Namespace 'MyProcessSample

Remarks

Use this method to create an array of new Process components and associate them with all the process resources on the local computer. The process resources must already exist on the local computer, because GetProcesses does not create system resources but rather associates resources with application-generated Process components. Because the operating system itself is running background processes, this array is never empty.

If you do not want to retrieve all the processes running on the computer, you can restrict their number by using the GetProcessById or GetProcessesByName method. GetProcessById creates a Process component that is associated with the process identified on the system by the process identifier that you pass to the method. GetProcessesByName creates an array of Process components whose associated process resources share the executable file you pass to the method.

Note

Multiple Windows services can be loaded within the same instance of the Service Host process (svchost.exe). GetProcesses does not identify those individual services; for that, see GetServices.

See also

Applies to

GetProcesses(String)

Creates a new Process component for each process resource on the specified computer.

public:
 static cli::array <System::Diagnostics::Process ^> ^ GetProcesses(System::String ^ machineName);
public static System.Diagnostics.Process[] GetProcesses (string machineName);
[System.Runtime.Versioning.SupportedOSPlatform("maccatalyst")]
[System.Runtime.Versioning.UnsupportedOSPlatform("ios")]
[System.Runtime.Versioning.UnsupportedOSPlatform("tvos")]
public static System.Diagnostics.Process[] GetProcesses (string machineName);
static member GetProcesses : string -> System.Diagnostics.Process[]
[<System.Runtime.Versioning.SupportedOSPlatform("maccatalyst")>]
[<System.Runtime.Versioning.UnsupportedOSPlatform("ios")>]
[<System.Runtime.Versioning.UnsupportedOSPlatform("tvos")>]
static member GetProcesses : string -> System.Diagnostics.Process[]
Public Shared Function GetProcesses (machineName As String) As Process()

Parameters

machineName
String

The computer from which to read the list of processes.

Returns

An array of type Process that represents all the process resources running on the specified computer.

Attributes

Exceptions

The machineName parameter syntax is invalid. It might have length zero (0).

The machineName parameter is null.

The operating system platform does not support this operation on remote computers.

There are problems accessing the performance counter APIs used to get process information. This exception is specific to Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP.

A problem occurred accessing an underlying system API.

Examples

The following example retrieves information of the current process, processes running on the local computer, all instances of Notepad running on the local computer, and a specific process on the local computer. It then retrieves information for the same processes on a remote computer.

#using <System.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Diagnostics;
using namespace System::ComponentModel;
int main()
{   
   // Get the current process.    
   Process^ currentProcess = Process::GetCurrentProcess();

   // Get all processes running on the local computer.
   array<Process^>^localAll = Process::GetProcesses();

   // Get all instances of Notepad running on the local computer.
   // This will return an empty array if notepad isn't running.
   array<Process^>^localByName = Process::GetProcessesByName("notepad");

   // Get a process on the local computer, using the process id.
   // This will throw an exception if there is no such process.
   Process^ localById = Process::GetProcessById(1234);


   // Get processes running on a remote computer. Note that this
   // and all the following calls will timeout and throw an exception
   // if "myComputer" and 169.0.0.0 do not exist on your local network.

   // Get all processes on a remote computer.
   array<Process^>^remoteAll = Process::GetProcesses("myComputer");

   // Get all instances of Notepad running on the specific computer, using machine name.
   array<Process^>^remoteByName = Process::GetProcessesByName( "notepad", "myComputer" );
   
   // Get all instances of Notepad running on the specific computer, using IP address.
   array<Process^>^ipByName = Process::GetProcessesByName( "notepad", "169.0.0.0" );
   
   // Get a process on a remote computer, using the process id and machine name.
   Process^ remoteById = Process::GetProcessById( 2345, "myComputer" );
}
using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.ComponentModel;

namespace MyProcessSample
{
    class MyProcess
    {
        void BindToRunningProcesses()
        {
            // Get the current process.
            Process currentProcess = Process.GetCurrentProcess();

            // Get all processes running on the local computer.
            Process[] localAll = Process.GetProcesses();

            // Get all instances of Notepad running on the local computer.
            // This will return an empty array if notepad isn't running.
            Process[] localByName = Process.GetProcessesByName("notepad");

            // Get a process on the local computer, using the process id.
            // This will throw an exception if there is no such process.
            Process localById = Process.GetProcessById(1234);

            // Get processes running on a remote computer. Note that this
            // and all the following calls will timeout and throw an exception
            // if "myComputer" and 169.0.0.0 do not exist on your local network.

            // Get all processes on a remote computer.
            Process[] remoteAll = Process.GetProcesses("myComputer");

            // Get all instances of Notepad running on the specific computer, using machine name.
            Process[] remoteByName = Process.GetProcessesByName("notepad", "myComputer");

            // Get all instances of Notepad running on the specific computer, using IP address.
            Process[] ipByName = Process.GetProcessesByName("notepad", "169.0.0.0");

            // Get a process on a remote computer, using the process id and machine name.
            Process remoteById = Process.GetProcessById(2345, "myComputer");
        }

        static void Main()
        {
            MyProcess myProcess = new MyProcess();
            myProcess.BindToRunningProcesses();
        }
    }
}
Imports System.Diagnostics
Imports System.ComponentModel

Namespace MyProcessSample
    Class MyProcess
        Sub BindToRunningProcesses()
            ' Get the current process. You can use currentProcess from this point
            ' to access various properties and call methods to control the process.
            Dim currentProcess As Process = Process.GetCurrentProcess()

            ' Get all processes running on the local computer.
            Dim localAll As Process() = Process.GetProcesses()

            ' Get all instances of Notepad running on the local computer.
            ' This will return an empty array if notepad isn't running.
            Dim localByName As Process() = Process.GetProcessesByName("notepad")

            ' Get a process on the local computer, using the process id.
            ' This will throw an exception if there is no such process.
            Dim localById As Process = Process.GetProcessById(1234)


            ' Get processes running on a remote computer. Note that this
            ' and all the following calls will timeout and throw an exception
            ' if "myComputer" and 169.0.0.0 do not exist on your local network.

            ' Get all processes on a remote computer.
            Dim remoteAll As Process() = Process.GetProcesses("myComputer")

            ' Get all instances of Notepad running on the specific computer, using machine name.
            Dim remoteByName As Process() = Process.GetProcessesByName("notepad", "myComputer")

            ' Get all instances of Notepad running on the specific computer, using IP address.
            Dim ipByName As Process() = Process.GetProcessesByName("notepad", "169.0.0.0")

            ' Get a process on a remote computer, using the process id and machine name.
            Dim remoteById As Process = Process.GetProcessById(2345, "myComputer")
        End Sub

        Shared Sub Main()
            Dim myProcess As New MyProcess()
            myProcess.BindToRunningProcesses()
        End Sub

    End Class

End Namespace 'MyProcessSample

Remarks

Use this method to create an array of new Process components and associate them with all the process resources on the specified (usually remote) computer. The process resources must already exist on the local computer, because GetProcesses does not create system resources but rather associates resources with application-generated Process components. Because the operating system itself is running background processes, this array is never empty.

If you do not want to retrieve all the processes running on the computer, you can restrict their number by using the GetProcessById or GetProcessesByName method. GetProcessById creates a Process component that is associated with the process identified on the system by the process identifier that you pass to the method. GetProcessesByName creates an array of Process components whose associated process resources share the executable file you pass to the method.

This overload of the GetProcesses method is generally used to retrieve the list of process resources running on a remote computer on the network, but you can specify the local computer by passing ".".

Note

Multiple Windows services can be loaded within the same instance of the Service Host process (svchost.exe). GetProcesses does not identify those individual services; for that, see GetServices.

See also

Applies to