Problem
You want to see which processes are running on the system.
Solution
To retrieve the list of currently running processes, use the GetProcess cmdlet: PS >GetProcess
Handles NPM(K) PM(K) WS(K) VM(M) CPU(s) Id ProcessName
274 6 1328 3940 33 1084 alg 85 4 3816 6656 57 5.67 3460 AutoHotkey 50 2 2292 1980 14 384.25 1560 BrmfRsmg 71 3 2520 4680 35 0.42 2592 cmd
946 7 3676 6204 32 848 csrss 84 4 732 2248 22 3144 csrss 68 4 936 3364 30 0.38 3904 ctfmon
243 7 3648 9324 48 2.02 2892 Ditto (...)
Discussion
The GetProcess cmdlet retrieves information about all processes running on the system. Because these are rich .NET objects (of the type System.Diagnostics.Process), advanced filters and operations are easier than ever before.
For example, to find all processes using more than 100 MB of memory:
PS >GetProcess | WhereObject { $_.WorkingSet gt 100mb }
Handles NPM(K) PM(K) WS(K) VM(M) CPU(s) Id ProcessName
1458 29 83468 105824 273 323.80 3992 BigBloatedApp
To group processes by company:
PS >GetProcess | GroupObject Company
Count Name Group
39 {alg, csrss, csrss, dllhost...} 4 {AutoHotkey, Ditto, gnuserv, mafwTray} 1 Brother Industries, Ltd. {BrmfRsmg}
19 Microsoft Corporation {cmd, ctfmon, EXCEL, explorer...} 1 Free Software Foundation {emacs} 1 Microsoft (R) Corporation {FwcMgmt}
(...)
Or perhaps to sort by start time (with the most recent first):
PS >GetProcess | Sort Descending StartTime | SelectObject First 10
Handles NPM(K) PM(K) WS(K) VM(M) CPU(s) Id ProcessName
1810 39 53616 33964 193 318.02 1452 iTunes 675 6 41472 50180 146 49.36 296 powershell 1240 35 48220 58860 316 167.58 4012 OUTLOOK
305 8 5736 2460 105 21.22 3384 WindowsSearch... 464 7 29704 30920 153 6.00 3680 powershell
1458 29 83468 105824 273 324.22 3992 iexplore 478 6 24620 23688 143 17.83 3548 powershell 222 8 8532 19084 144 20.69 3924 EXCEL
14 2 396 1600 15 0.06 2900 logon.scr 544 18 21336 50216 294 180.72 2660 WINWORD
These advanced tasks become incredibly simple due to the rich amount of information that PowerShell returns for each process. For more information about the GetProcess cmdlet, type GetHelp GetProcess.
