Processes view

The Processes view displays a tree of all active processes on your system. The process ID and module name are shown. Use the Processes view if you want to examine a particular system process, which usually corresponds to an executing program. Processes are identified by module names, or they're designated system processes.

Microsoft Windows supports multiple processes. Each process can have one or more threads, and each thread can have one or more associated top-level windows. Each top-level window can own a series of windows. A + symbol indicates that a level is collapsed. The collapsed view consists of one line per process. Select the + symbol to expand the level.

Use the Processes view if you want to examine a particular system process, which usually corresponds to an executing program. Processes are identified by module names, or they're designated system processes. To find a process, collapse the tree and search the list.

Procedures

To open the Processes view

  1. From the Spy menu, choose Processes.

    The following image shows the Processes view with process and thread nodes expanded.

    Screenshot of the Processes view with process and thread nodes expanded.

To open properties for a thread

To find out more about a process listed in Processes view, use the Process Properties dialog box.

  1. Select a process from the tree displayed in Processes view.

  2. From the View menu, choose Properties.

    Properties dialog boxes aren't modal, so you can select another item in a view window and the dialog box shows information on the selected item.