.NET Events for Process executable start

Question

Is there any way to register for an event that fires when an executable of a particular filename starts? I know it's easy enough to get an event when a process exits, by getting the process handle and registering for the exited event. But how can you be notified when a process, that isn't already running, starts...without polling all the running processes?

Answer 1

You could use the following:

    private ManagementEventWatcher WatchForProcessStart(string processName)
    {
        string queryString =
            "SELECT TargetInstance" +
            "  FROM __InstanceCreationEvent " +
            "WITHIN  10 " +
            " WHERE TargetInstance ISA 'Win32_Process' " +
            "   AND TargetInstance.Name = '" + processName + "'";

        // The dot in the scope means use the current machine
        string scope = @"\\.\root\CIMV2";

        // Create a watcher and listen for events
        ManagementEventWatcher watcher = new ManagementEventWatcher(scope, queryString);
        watcher.EventArrived += ProcessStarted;
        watcher.Start();
        return watcher;
    }

    private ManagementEventWatcher WatchForProcessEnd(string processName)
    {
        string queryString =
            "SELECT TargetInstance" +
            "  FROM __InstanceDeletionEvent " +
            "WITHIN  10 " +
            " WHERE TargetInstance ISA 'Win32_Process' " +
            "   AND TargetInstance.Name = '" + processName + "'";

        // The dot in the scope means use the current machine
        string scope = @"\\.\root\CIMV2";

        // Create a watcher and listen for events
        ManagementEventWatcher watcher = new ManagementEventWatcher(scope, queryString);
        watcher.EventArrived += ProcessEnded;
        watcher.Start();
        return watcher;
    }

    private void ProcessEnded(object sender, EventArrivedEventArgs e)
    {
        ManagementBaseObject targetInstance = (ManagementBaseObject) e.NewEvent.Properties["TargetInstance"].Value;
        string processName = targetInstance.Properties["Name"].Value.ToString();
        Console.WriteLine(String.Format("{0} process ended", processName));
    }

    private void ProcessStarted(object sender, EventArrivedEventArgs e)
    {
        ManagementBaseObject targetInstance = (ManagementBaseObject)e.NewEvent.Properties["TargetInstance"].Value;
        string processName = targetInstance.Properties["Name"].Value.ToString();
        Console.WriteLine(String.Format("{0} process started", processName));
    }

You would then call either WatchForProcessStart and/or WatchForProcessEnd passing in your process name (eg "notepad.exe").

The ManagementEventWatcher object is returned from the two Watch* methods as it implements IDisposable and so you should call Dispose on these objects when you have finished with them to prevent issues.

You could also change the polling value in the queries if you need the event to be raised more quickly after the process has started. To do this change the line "WITHIN 10" to be WITHIN something less than 10.

Answer 2

Here is code.

Notice that you have to start Visual Studio like Administrator in order to execute this code.

using System;
using System.Management;

namespace AppLaunchDetector
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {           
            ManagementEventWatcher w = null;
            WqlEventQuery q;
            try
            {
                q = new WqlEventQuery();
                q.EventClassName = "Win32_ProcessStartTrace";
                w = new ManagementEventWatcher(q);
                w.EventArrived += new EventArrivedEventHandler(ProcessStartEventArrived);
                w.Start();
                Console.ReadLine(); // block main thread for test purposes
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {

            }
            finally
            {
                w.Stop();
            }
        }

        static void ProcessStartEventArrived(object sender, EventArrivedEventArgs e)
        {
            foreach (PropertyData pd in e.NewEvent.Properties)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("\n============================= =========");
                Console.WriteLine("{0},{1},{2}", pd.Name, pd.Type, pd.Value);
            }
        }
    }
}

Answer 3

WMI can create events when processes are created. You could then filter these events.