How do I change the priority of a process?

Question

Can anyone provide a Delphi example of code that changes the priority class of a process?

I need to get the process by name from the Windows XP Task manager and change its priority using delphi code.

How do you plan to identify the process? – David Heffernan Dec 19 '11 at 19:18 — David Heffernan, Dec 19 '11 at 19:18

RRUZ · Answer 1 · 2011-12-19T19:18:55.743

12

you must use the SetPriorityClass function.

This function is part of the windows unit, this is a sample

SetPriorityClass(GetCurrentProcess(), HIGH_PRIORITY_CLASS);

edited Dec 19 '11 at 19:18

answered Dec 19 '11 at 19:13

RRUZ

Wow, I never heard about this possibility, +10 if I can :) – TLama Dec 19 '11 at 21:28
1

@TLama, altering the priority of a process is a bad idea without an extremely good reason, as it can delay (or kill) OS functionality. Rodrigo didn't point that out, but I'm sure he knew that as well. :) Rodrigo, +1. – Ken White Dec 20 '11 at 00:42
ok. tnx. But if i have in the Task manager (Windows) process "prog.exe" how do i change the priority of this process using this function? – mortalis Dec 20 '11 at 06:40
or i have to use other method? – mortalis Dec 20 '11 at 06:40
You can refer to John Ayres book entitled **The Tomes of Delphi Win32 Core API** (ISBN 1-55622-750-7). It's a must. – menjaraz Dec 20 '11 at 11:16
@St.Anger_Roman, to use this function with a file name , you must take an Snapshot of the Running Processes using the [CreateToolhelp32Snapshot](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms682489%28v=vs.85%29.aspx) function, then you must search for the name of the process which you want to change and finally open the process to get a handle (this is the handle which you must pass to the `SetPriorityClass` function) using the [OpenProcess](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms684320%28v=vs.85%29.aspx) passing the `PROCESS_SET_INFORMATION` value as parameter. – RRUZ Dec 20 '11 at 11:40

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