Determine if a particular exe file is running

[Ron Weller]

I have a program that only runs from an external drive. I am creating an Update program that downloads the latest version and updates the program.

Is there a way to tell if the file I am trying to update is currently running?

I can't assume that if the program is running that it is the one I am trying to update; because they could be running it from one drive while updating the program on another drive.

If the program file I am trying to update is running, then I want to give them a warning message with the option to either cancel the update or shut down the program before updating it.

Thanks!

[Hack]

If it is running it should show up in task manager and you should be able to find it there using WMI.

Here is an example: http://www.freevbcode.com/ShowCode.asp?ID=7313

[Ron Weller]

Thanks That worked great! Here is the Test Code I Used:

Imports System.Management

Public Class frmMain

  Const WM_QUIT As UInteger = &H12
  Private Declare Function PostThreadMessage Lib "user32.dll" Alias "PostThreadMessageA" (ByVal idThread As Integer, ByVal Msg As UInteger, ByVal wParam As IntPtr, ByVal lParam As IntPtr) As Boolean

  Private Sub EndProg()
    ' This version uses WMI which also gives access to the Exe file's Path
    Dim ThreadID As Integer = 0
    'See if MyProgram is running from External drive 'G', and shut it down gracefully
    Dim Win32Procs As New ManagementObjectSearcher("SELECT * FROM Win32_Process Where (ExecutablePath = 'G:\MyProgram.exe')")
    For Each Win32Proc As ManagementObject In Win32Procs.Get()
      'Debug.Print("Name:" & Win32Proc("Name") & "  Path:" & Win32Proc("ExecutablePath")) 'Items.Add(disk("Name").ToString())
      Dim Win32Threads As New ManagementObjectSearcher("SELECT * FROM Win32_Thread Where (ProcessHandle = '" & Win32Proc("ProcessId").ToString & "')")
      For Each Win32Thread As ManagementObject In Win32Threads.Get()
        ThreadID = CInt(Win32Thread("Handle"))
        PostThreadMessage(ThreadID, WM_QUIT, IntPtr.Zero, IntPtr.Zero)
      Next
    Next
  End Sub

  Private Sub btEndIt_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btEndIt.Click
    EndProg()
  End Sub
End Class

Notice here that you could shutdown all occurances of MyProgram.exe by changing the 'Where' Clause to look for Name = 'MyProgram.exe' instead of looking for ExecutablePath = 'G:\MyProgram.exe'