explorer.exe This is simply Windows Explorer, which is responsible for your desktop and Start menu. If
this program crashes or is closed, Windows will usually start it again automatically. If you
see more than one instance of explorer.exe, it means that each folder window is being
launched as a separate process (see Chapter 2 for details).
lsass.exe This is the Local Security Authority subsystem, responsible for authenticating users on
your system.
rundll32.exe This program, the purpose of which is to launch a function in a DLL as though it were a
separate program, is used for about a million different things in Windows.
services.exe This is the Windows NT Service Control Manager, and works similarly to svchost.exe,
described shortly. The difference is that services.exe runs services that are processes, and
svchost.exe runs services that are DLLs.
smss.exe Called the Windows NT Session Manager, smss.exe is an essential Windows component.
Among other things, it runs programs listed in the HKEY_ LOCAL_MACHINE\
SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager key in the Registry.
spoolsv.exe This handles printing and print spooling (queuing).
svchost.exe This is the application responsible for launching most services (listed in services.msc). See
the upcoming ???What Is Svchost???? sidebar for details. See also services.exe.
System This is the System process, an essential Windows component.
System Idle Process The ???idle??? process is a 16k loop, used to occupy all CPU cycles not consumed by other running
processes.
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