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+---- Thread: [C++] Ways to get list of processes running (/showthread.php?tid=6293260)
[C++] Ways to get list of processes running - ByteDoktor - Feb 26, 2025
Now there are many ways to find the list of active processes on a system in C++, i will only cover a few of them, so if you're aware of any others that i have missed, please don't hesitate to reply with them.
First Method (Basic) (Windows Only)
Code
#include <cstdlib>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
// Print the objective of program
cout << "Running tasklist command to retrieve "
"list of running processes:"
<< endl;
// Execute the tasklist command and display the output
int returnValue = system("tasklist");
if (returnValue != 0) {
cerr << "Error executing tasklist command" << endl;
return 1;
}
return 0;
}Second Method (EnumProcess & OpenProcess)
The second is to simply use EnumProcesses functions that returns the PIDs and OpenProcess function.
Code
#include <iostream>
#include "Windows.h"
#include "psapi.h"
BOOL PrintProcesses() {
DWORD adwProcesses[1024 * 2], dwReturnLen1 = NULL, dwReturnLen2 = NULL,
dwNmbrOfPids = NULL;
HANDLE hProcess = NULL;
HMODULE hModule = NULL;
WCHAR szProc[MAX_PATH];
if (!EnumProcesses(adwProcesses, sizeof(adwProcesses), &dwReturnLen1)) {
printf("[!] EnumProcesses Failed With Error : %d \n", GetLastError());
return FALSE;
}
dwNmbrOfPids = dwReturnLen1 / sizeof(DWORD);
printf("[i] Number Of Processes Detected : %d \n", dwNmbrOfPids);
for (int i = 0; i < dwNmbrOfPids; i++) {
if (adwProcesses[i] != NULL) {
if ((hProcess =
OpenProcess(PROCESS_QUERY_INFORMATION | PROCESS_VM_READ,
FALSE, adwProcesses[i])) != NULL) {
if (!EnumProcessModules(hProcess, &hModule,
sizeof(HMODULE),
&dwReturnLen2)) {
printf("[!] EnumProcessModules Failed[At Pid : % d] With Error: % d \n ", adwProcesses[i], GetLastError());
}
else {
if (!GetModuleBaseName(
hProcess, hModule,
szProc,
sizeof(szProc) /
sizeof(WCHAR))) {
printf("[!] GetModuleBaseName Failed[At Pid : % d] With Error: % d \n ",adwProcesses[i], GetLastError());
}
else {
wprintf(L"[%0.3d] Process \"%s\" - Of Pid : %d \n", i, szProc, adwProcesses[i]);
}
}
CloseHandle(hProcess);
}
}
}
}
int main()
{
PrintProcesses();
}Source:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/psapi/nf-psapi-enumprocesses
Method 3 (CreateToolhelp32Snapshot)
Using the CreateToolhelp32Snapshot method for process enumeration, a snapshot is taken, and a string comparison is used to check if a process name matches the target. However, this approach has a limitation: when multiple instances of the same process run at different privilege levels, the string comparison cannot distinguish between them.
Source:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/tlhelp32/nf-tlhelp32-createtoolhelp32snapshot
Code
#include "Windows.h"
#include <tlhelp32.h>
#include <ostream>
#include <iostream>
void PrintProcessList() {
HANDLE hProcessSnap;
PROCESSENTRY32 pe32;
hProcessSnap = CreateToolhelp32Snapshot(TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS, 0);
if (hProcessSnap == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
return;
}
pe32.dwSize = sizeof(PROCESSENTRY32);
if (Process32First(hProcessSnap, &pe32)) {
do {
std::wcout << L"Process Name: " << pe32.szExeFile << std::endl;
} while (Process32Next(hProcessSnap, &pe32));
}
CloseHandle(hProcessSnap);
}
int main() {
PrintProcessList();
}Thanks for reading my thread.