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By Mark Russinovich
Published: March 30, 2023
Download PsTools (5 MB)
Introduction
You can simply run pslist to get the current list of processes and statistical information about each one, or filter to show only processes that start with a specific name for example pslist exp will only show processes that start with "exp", which would include Explorer for instance.
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| -d | Show thread detail. |
| -m | Show memory detail. |
| -x | Show processes, memory information and threads. |
| -t | Show process tree. |
| -s [n] | Run in task-manager mode, for optional seconds specified. Press Escape to abort. |
| -r n | Task-manager mode refresh rate in seconds (default is 1). |
| \\computer | Instead of showing process information for the local system, PsList will show information for the system specified. Include the -u switch with a username and password to login to the remote system if your security credentials do not permit you to obtain performance counter information from the remote system. |
| -u | Specifies optional user name for login to remote computer. |
| -p | This option lets you specify the login password on the command line so that you can use PsList from batch files. If you specify an account name and omit the -p option PsList prompts you interactively for a password. |
| name | Show information about processes that begin with the name specified. |
| -e | Exact match the process name. |
| pid | Instead of listing all the running processes in the system, this parameter narrows PsList's scan to the process that has the specified PID. Thus: pslist 53 would dump statistics for the process with the PID 53. |
How it Works
Like Windows's built-in PerfMon monitoring tool, PsList uses the Windows performance counters to obtain the information it displays. You can find documentation for Windows performance counters, in the Win32 Docs.
Statistics Abbreviations Legend
All memory values are displayed in KB.
- Pri: Priority
- Thd: Number of Threads
- Hnd: Number of Handles
- VM: Virtual Memory
- WS: Working Set
- Priv: Private Virtual Memory
- Priv Pk: Private Virtual Memory Peak
- Faults: Page Faults
- NonP: Non-Paged Pool
- Page: Paged Pool
- Cswtch: Context Switches
Download PsTools (5 MB)
PsTools
PsList is part of a growing kit of Sysinternals command-line tools that aid in the administration of local and remote systems named PsTools.
Runs on:
- Client: Windows 8.1 and higher.
- Server: Windows Server 2012 and higher.