Process management (Get/Stop-Process) in PowerShell - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Process Management with Get-Process and Stop-Process

📖 Scenario: You are managing your computer's running programs. Sometimes, a program uses too much memory or is not responding. You want to find these programs and stop them safely.

🎯 Goal: You will write a PowerShell script that lists running processes, sets a memory usage limit, finds processes using more memory than this limit, and stops those processes.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a variable with a list of running processes using Get-Process

Create a variable called memoryLimitMB with a value of 100

Use a foreach loop to find processes using more than memoryLimitMB megabytes of memory

Stop those processes using Stop-Process

Print the names of stopped processes

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

System administrators often need to manage processes that use too much memory or cause problems. This script helps automate that task.

💼 Career

Knowing how to list, filter, and stop processes is useful for IT support, system administration, and automation roles.

1

Get the list of running processes

Create a variable called processes and set it to the list of all running processes using Get-Process.

PowerShell

# Create a variable called processes with all running processes
# Your code here

Hint

Use Get-Process to get all running processes and assign it to processes.

2

Set the memory usage limit

Create a variable called memoryLimitMB and set it to 100 to represent 100 megabytes.

PowerShell

$processes = Get-Process
# Create a variable memoryLimitMB and set it to 100
# Your code here

Hint

Just assign the number 100 to memoryLimitMB.

3

Find and stop processes using too much memory

Use a foreach loop with variable proc to go through processes. Inside the loop, check if proc.WorkingSet / 1MB is greater than memoryLimitMB. If yes, stop the process using Stop-Process -Id $proc.Id and print the process name with Write-Output.

PowerShell

$processes = Get-Process
$memoryLimitMB = 100
# Use foreach loop to check memory and stop processes
# Your code here

Hint

Use foreach ($proc in $processes) to loop. Check memory with $proc.WorkingSet / 1MB. Use Stop-Process -Id $proc.Id to stop.

4

Run the script and see stopped processes

Run the script to see the names of processes stopped because they used more than 100 MB memory.

PowerShell

$processes = Get-Process
$memoryLimitMB = 100
foreach ($proc in $processes) {
    if (($proc.WorkingSet / 1MB) -gt $memoryLimitMB) {
        Stop-Process -Id $proc.Id
        Write-Output "Stopped process: $($proc.Name)"
    }
}
# Run the script to see output

Hint

Run the script. If any process uses more than 100 MB, you will see lines like Stopped process: processname.

Practice

1. What does the PowerShell command Get-Process do?

easy

A. Lists all running processes on the computer

B. Stops a running process immediately

C. Starts a new process

D. Deletes a file from the system

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the purpose of Get-Process

   The command Get-Process is used to display information about processes currently running on the computer.

2. Step 2: Compare options with command function

   Only Lists all running processes on the computer correctly describes listing running processes. Other options describe different actions not related to Get-Process.

3. Final Answer:

   Lists all running processes on the computer -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Get-Process lists processes = A [OK]

Hint: Get-Process always shows running programs, not stopping them [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing Get-Process with Stop-Process
• Thinking Get-Process starts or deletes processes
• Assuming it modifies processes instead of listing

2. Which of the following is the correct syntax to stop a process named 'notepad' in PowerShell?

easy

A. Stop-Process notepad -Force

B. Get-Process -Stop notepad

C. Kill-Process -Name notepad

D. Stop-Process -Name notepad

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify correct cmdlet and parameter

   The cmdlet to stop a process is Stop-Process. The parameter to specify process by name is -Name.

2. Step 2: Validate syntax correctness

   Stop-Process -Name notepad uses correct cmdlet and parameter: Stop-Process -Name notepad. Get-Process -Stop notepad uses wrong cmdlet and parameter. Stop-Process notepad -Force misses the parameter name before 'notepad'. Kill-Process -Name notepad uses a non-existent cmdlet.

3. Final Answer:

   Stop-Process -Name notepad -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Stop-Process with -Name is correct syntax = C [OK]

Hint: Use Stop-Process with -Name to stop by process name [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Omitting the -Name parameter
• Using incorrect cmdlet names like Kill-Process
• Placing process name without parameter name

3. What will be the output of this PowerShell command?

Get-Process -Name powershell | Stop-Process -PassThru

medium

A. Lists all running PowerShell processes without stopping them

B. Stops the PowerShell process and outputs the stopped process details

C. Throws an error because Stop-Process cannot be piped

D. Starts a new PowerShell process

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the pipeline usage

   The command gets the process named 'powershell' and pipes it to Stop-Process. The -PassThru parameter makes Stop-Process output the stopped process object.

2. Step 2: Predict command behavior

   The process will be stopped, and its details will be shown as output. No error occurs because piping is supported.

3. Final Answer:

   Stops the PowerShell process and outputs the stopped process details -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Get-Process piped to Stop-Process with -PassThru stops and outputs = B [OK]

Hint: Stop-Process supports pipeline input and -PassThru outputs stopped process [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking Stop-Process cannot accept pipeline input
• Assuming it only lists processes without stopping
• Confusing -PassThru as a force stop

4. You run this command but get an error:

Stop-Process -Name

What is the problem and how to fix it?

medium

A. The command should be Get-Process -Name instead

B. Stop-Process does not use -Name; use -Id instead

C. Missing process name after -Name; add the process name

D. Stop-Process requires -Force parameter always

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify the error cause

   The command uses -Name parameter but does not specify the process name, causing a syntax error.

2. Step 2: Correct the command

   To fix, provide the process name after -Name, for example: Stop-Process -Name notepad.

3. Final Answer:

   Missing process name after -Name; add the process name -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Parameter -Name needs a value = D [OK]

Hint: Always provide a value after -Name parameter [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Leaving -Name without a value
• Assuming -Force is always required
• Confusing Stop-Process with Get-Process

5. You want to stop all running instances of 'chrome' safely but only if they use more than 100 MB of memory. Which PowerShell command achieves this?

hard

A. Get-Process -Name chrome | Where-Object { $_.WorkingSet -gt 100000000 } | Stop-Process

B. Get-Process -Name chrome | Where-Object { $_.WorkingSet -gt 100MB } | Stop-Process

C. Stop-Process -Name chrome -MemoryLimit 100MB

D. Get-Process chrome | Stop-Process -MemoryUsage 100MB

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand memory property and filtering

   The WorkingSet property shows memory usage in bytes. 100 MB equals 100,000,000 bytes approximately.

2. Step 2: Filter processes by memory and stop them

   Get-Process -Name chrome | Where-Object { $_.WorkingSet -gt 100000000 } | Stop-Process correctly filters chrome processes with memory usage greater than 100,000,000 bytes and pipes them to Stop-Process. Get-Process -Name chrome | Where-Object { $_.WorkingSet -gt 100MB } | Stop-Process uses '100MB' which is invalid syntax. Options C and D use non-existent parameters.

3. Final Answer:

   Get-Process -Name chrome | Where-Object { $_.WorkingSet -gt 100000000 } | Stop-Process -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Memory in bytes filter with Where-Object = A [OK]

Hint: Memory is in bytes; use numeric value, not '100MB' string [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using '100MB' as a value instead of bytes
• Trying to use Stop-Process parameters that don't exist
• Not filtering processes before stopping