In addition to what Shenan posted.
This is somewhat difficult to describe because a bunch of these terms seem
to be used interchangeably.
[[process
An executable program, such as Windows Explorer, or a service, such as
MSTask.]]
Process is the technical term for any program code that runs in its own
address space.
[[program
A complete, self-contained set of computer instructions that you use to
perform a specific task, such as word processing, accounting, or data
management. Program is also called application.]]
That’s because most of these processes – including most services – run in a
hidden window. This is how Task Manager determines the processes that appear
on the Applications tab. If you can see the window in which the process is
running, then it shows up as an application. If you can’t see the window,
then it doesn’t show up as an application, it shows up as a process.
A service will be listed in
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services
At startup, Svchost.exe checks the services portion of the registry to
construct a list of services that it needs to load. The Services Control
Manager (services.exe) is responsible for starting, stopping and interacting
with system services.
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Hope this helps. Let us know.
Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
In
