Logonsessions.Exe - Sysinternals

Question

I had downloaded Sysinternals, never used it or opened it, and then deleted it. I noticed it was in the trash bin in OneDrive.

I then decided to find out what the file was and if it could be deleted. I came across this article that says: "No, logonsessions.exe is not a standalone executable file that can be deleted; it refers to the Windows operating system's logon session management, which is essential for the system to function. Attempting to delete or remove the underlying components would be equivalent to trying to delete the Windows kernel or core system services, which would lead to critical system instability and failure."

The article implies that it is part of Windows 11,v24H2 (I have the Home version) and yet it is a SysInternals product.

OneDrive also states that the path for logonsessions.exe is: Documents/Pictures/Apps/Sysinternals

That is not a valid path on my Windows-11 Home.

If I DO need this file on my system, what is the valid path for it? Is the file necessary?

Thank you,

LGLDSR73

Answer 1

The author of whatever article you are looking at may not be aware of the Sysinternals tools.

I have used the Sysinternals tools for decades with great success. They do not require a user to go through a normal install process. They are standalone executables and can be placed in any folder that you wish. To "uninstall" them, you just delete the file.

I put them in C:\Utils. I have also added that folder to my system path so that I can run them no matter what my current directory is.

Logonsessions.exe and its 64 bit companion are only needed if you are troubleshooting some network connectivity issue. I can't recall the last time I used it. But I use Process Monitor and Process Explorer quite frequently.

It looks like you may have accidently put a Sysinternals folder in your Pictures directory. I wouldn't put mine there, but if it makes sense to you then that's ok.