pv.exe - PrcView command line utility allows automating common task like
figuring out if particular process is running or killing a running process
on scheduler.
Checking if a particular process is running is easy. For example the
following command will show all instances of explorer that are running:
pv explorer.exe
Setting a process priority is another common task. To set explorer priority
to normal just type:
pv -pn explorer.exe
or if you like a 'verbose' style
pv -p"Normal" explorer.exe
pv supports the common '*' and '?' wildcards so that the following command
will perfectly work by printing out all the processes starting with 'e'
pv e*
Don't like a particular process and would like to kill it? The following
command will do the job:
pv -k thisprocess.exe
And if you don't like additional questions and would like to force killing:
pv -kf thisprocess.exe
Don't like this particular instance of the process and know the window title?
The following command will do the job (please note that '\' need to be
represented as a '\\' combination if you enter it from the command line):
pv -k thisprocess.exe -w"c:\\"
pv.exe can be easealy executed from a batch file to check if process is running.
When writing a command file please note that the ERRORLEVEL number specifies
a true condition if the last program run returned an exit code equal to or
_greater_ than the number specified.
The following script illustrates how this could be done:
@echo off
pv.exe %1 >nul
if ERRORLEVEL 1 goto Process_NotFound
rocess_Found
echo Process %1 is running
goto END
rocess_NotFound
echo Process %1 is not running
goto END
:END
Please note that redirecting standard errors by using 2>file_name does not work under 9x
Windows. Please use "2>file_name" instead. This notation will be processed by pv.exe.
And finally a copy of the -? command:
PrcView v 3.7.2.4 command line utility by Igor Nys
Usage: pv -[<MODE>] -[<OPTIONS>] <ARGUMENTS>...-[<OPTIONS>]
Modes:
-h,-? --help display this help information
-k --kill kill PROCESS
-a --activate activate PROCESS
-c --close close (send WM_CLOSE) to the PROCESS
-m --module show modules used by specified PROCESS
-g --getenv get startup environment for the PROCESS
-p[nihr] --priority set priority to "Normal", "Idle", "High", "Real Time"
[ba] "Below Normal" and "Above Normal" only on W2K or higher
-t --tree display process tree, -te for computer-readable format
-u --usage show processes that uses specified MODULE
-s --summary show MODULE usage summary
Options:
-f, --force never prompt
-e, --extend show additional information if available
-i, --id use process ID instead of the PROCESS name
-q, --quiet supress headers and produce a tab-separated list
-d[time] --delay delay time in milliseconds before executing command
-l[mask] --long include process command line
-w[mask] --window show only processes with visible windows, -e show hidden
-r --repeat repeat command in a cycle
Arguments can contain '*' and '?' wildcards.
Process return code (%ERRORLEVEL%) can be used in batch files
0 - process found, 1 - empty result set, 2 - programm error
Examples:
pv myprocess.exe get process ID for myprocess.exe.
pv -e get extended list of running processes.
pv -k sleep* kill all processes starting with "sleep"
pv -m -e explorer.exe get extended information about explorer's modules
pv -u oleaut*.dll list of all processes that use matching dll
pv -ph w*.exe set priority to hight for all matching processes
pv explorer.exe -l"*/S" looks for explorer process with /S switch