How to determine which Task started a Process.

I have many tasks in Task Scheduler that kick off a particular program
passing parameters to it so it knows what to do. Sometimes that program does
not end gracefully and ends up consuming 50% CPU and slows system down. I do
not find out about this until a user complains of slowness.

The tasks run various VBS scripts which in turn runs an MS Access program.

When the problem arises I look at Windows Task Manager and see that sure
enough there is an MSACCESS.EXE at 50%. How the heck do I determine what Task
initiated this process so I can see what parameter was passed to the MSACCESS
program to see what code is being executed there?
--
Regards
Tom

 

"ThomasAJ" <ThomasAJ@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:9BE34128-B658-49DA-BA6D-52C489ACE325@microsoft.com...<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
>I have many tasks in Task Scheduler that kick off a particular program
> passing parameters to it so it knows what to do. Sometimes that program
> does
> not end gracefully and ends up consuming 50% CPU and slows system down. I
> do
> not find out about this until a user complains of slowness.
>
> The tasks run various VBS scripts which in turn runs an MS Access program.
>
> When the problem arises I look at Windows Task Manager and see that sure
> enough there is an MSACCESS.EXE at 50%. How the heck do I determine what
> Task
> initiated this process so I can see what parameter was passed to the
> MSACCESS
> program to see what code is being executed there?
> --
> Regards
> Tom<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

You can run ProcessExplorer
() to identify the
task that consumes excessive amounts of CPU time. Above it you will see what
invoked it. When you right-click the rogue task then you can see its full
command line.

 

Many thanks Pegasus

Aside: coming from an IBM mid-range AS400 type backround in my former life I
am *stunned* that this is not part of the OS from day 1. I see MS acquired
the software in 2006.

Perhaps there was a 'not as good' version.

How did MS ever crack the corporate market.
Answer: amazing marketing and price.

(I am not an admin but a developer)
--
Regards
Tom


"Pegasus [MVP]" wrote:
<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
>
> "ThomasAJ" <ThomasAJ@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:9BE34128-B658-49DA-BA6D-52C489ACE325@microsoft.com...<!--coloro:green--><span style="color:green <!--/coloro-->
> >I have many tasks in Task Scheduler that kick off a particular program
> > passing parameters to it so it knows what to do. Sometimes that program
> > does
> > not end gracefully and ends up consuming 50% CPU and slows system down. I
> > do
> > not find out about this until a user complains of slowness.
> >
> > The tasks run various VBS scripts which in turn runs an MS Access program.
> >
> > When the problem arises I look at Windows Task Manager and see that sure
> > enough there is an MSACCESS.EXE at 50%. How the heck do I determine what
> > Task
> > initiated this process so I can see what parameter was passed to the
> > MSACCESS
> > program to see what code is being executed there?
> > --
> > Regards
> > Tom<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
>
> You can run ProcessExplorer
> () to identify the
> task that consumes excessive amounts of CPU time. Above it you will see what
> invoked it. When you right-click the rogue task then you can see its full
> command line.
>
>
> <!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

 

"ThomasAJ" <ThomasAJ@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8E1422DD-04CF-487C-8090-2A61C7B5E30A@microsoft.com...<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> Many thanks Pegasus
>
> Aside: coming from an IBM mid-range AS400 type backround in my former life
> I
> am *stunned* that this is not part of the OS from day 1. I see MS acquired
> the software in 2006.
>
> Perhaps there was a 'not as good' version.
>
> How did MS ever crack the corporate market.
> Answer: amazing marketing and price.
>
> (I am not an admin but a developer)
> --
> Regards
> Tom<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

You need to remember that MS DOS started its life in a garage, same as its
competitors such as Commodore, Altair or TRS80. As you say, MS DOS become
dominant over time with clever marketing and pricing. Some ten years ago
Microsoft introduced its WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) tool which
allows you to monitor just about any aspect of Windows. Try the script
below - it gives you similar information as the Process Explorer tool I
previously mentioned. The core of the tool is just three lines of code.
Powerful stuff!

Note also that Microsoft does not hold a monopoly on bright ideas. Over the
years the company has taken on board many developers such as Sysinternals
who excelled with brilliant software.

To test the code below, save it as c:\CommandLine.vbs, then double-click it.

Set oArgs = WScript.Arguments
If oArgs.Count = 0 Then
sName = InputBox("Name of executable: ", "Exe Locator")
if sName = "" then WScript.Quit
Else
sName = oArgs(0)
End If

If InStr(sName, "?") > 0 Then
MsgBox "This tool will report the command line for an active executable." _
& vbLf & vbLf & "Usage: CommandLine NameOfExecutable", 0, "Command Line
Tool"
WScript.Quit
End If

if lcase(right(sName, 4)) <> ".exe" then sName = sName & ".exe"

Set oWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\.\root\CIMV2")
Set cItems = oWMIService.ExecQuery( _
"SELECT * FROM Win32_Process where Name = '" & sName & "'")

If cItems.Count = 0 Then
MsgBox "Executable """ & sName & """ not found.", _
0, "Command Line Tool"
Else
For Each oItem In cItems
MsgBox "Handle: " & oItem.Handle & vbLf _
& "Command Line: " & oItem.CommandLine & vbLf _
& "Description: " & oItem.Description, _
0, "Command Line Tool"
Next
End If