Windows Basics for Hackers, Services and Processes in Windows

Managing Services and Processes in Windows

Understanding how to manage services and processes in Windows is essential for hackers, penetration testers, and cybersecurity professionals. Services and processes control how applications and system tasks run, and knowing how to interact with them allows for better system administration, security monitoring, and even privilege escalation in some cases.

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Understanding Services vs. Processes

What is a Windows Service?

A Windows service is a background application that starts with the operating system and can run without user intervention.

• Examples: wuauserv (Windows Update), spooler (Print Spooler), MSSQLSERVER (SQL Server).
• Services run under different privilege levels, making them a potential target for privilege escalation.

What is a Windows Process?

A Windows process is an active instance of an application or system task. Unlike services, processes are generally tied to user activity.

• Examples: explorer.exe (File Explorer), cmd.exe (Command Prompt), svchost.exe (System Processes).
• Some processes are system-critical, while others are user-initiated applications.

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Managing Services in Windows

1. Viewing Running Services

• Command:sc query
  • Lists all running services.
  • Example: sc query | find "RUNNING"
• PowerShell Alternative:Get-Service
  • Example: Get-Service | Where-Object { $_.Status -eq "Running" }

2. Starting and Stopping Services

• Start a service:
  • Command: net start <ServiceName>
  • Example: net start wuauserv (Starts Windows Update Service)
• Stop a service:
  • Command: net stop <ServiceName>
  • Example: net stop spooler (Stops the Print Spooler)
• PowerShell Alternative:
  • Start: Start-Service -Name wuauserv
  • Stop: Stop-Service -Name spooler

3. Changing Service Startup Type

• Command:sc config <ServiceName> start= <startupType>
  • Startup Types: auto, demand, disabled
  • Example: sc config spooler start= disabled
• PowerShell Alternative: Set-Service -Name spooler -StartupType Disabled

4. Checking Service Permissions

• Command:sc sdshow <ServiceName>
  • Displays security permissions for the specified service.
• Example: sc sdshow wuauserv

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Managing Processes in Windows

1. Listing Running Processes

• Command:tasklist
  • Displays all active processes.
  • Example: tasklist | find "notepad.exe"
• PowerShell Alternative:Get-Process
  • Example: Get-Process -Name notepad

2. Terminating Processes

• Command:taskkill /IM <ProcessName> /F
  • Example: taskkill /IM notepad.exe /F (Forces Notepad to close)
• Terminate by Process ID:taskkill /PID <PID> /F
  • Example: taskkill /PID 1234 /F
• PowerShell Alternative: Stop-Process -Name notepad -Force

3. Checking Process Details

• Command:wmic process list full
  • Provides detailed information about each process.
• Example: wmic process where name="cmd.exe" list full
• PowerShell Alternative: Get-WmiObject Win32_Process | Select-Object Name, ProcessId, CommandLine

4. Monitoring System Performance

• Command:resmon
  • Opens Resource Monitor to check CPU, memory, and network usage.
• Command:perfmon
  • Launches Performance Monitor for in-depth system analysis.

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Using PowerShell for Advanced Process Management

PowerShell allows more flexibility in managing processes and services, making it a valuable tool for hackers.

Example: Monitoring Processes in Real-Time

while ($true) {
    Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU -Descending | Select-Object -First 10
    Start-Sleep -Seconds 5
}

This script continuously displays the top 10 CPU-consuming processes every 5 seconds.

Example: Logging Running Processes

Get-Process | Out-File -FilePath C:\Users\hacker\processlog.txt

Saves a snapshot of running processes to a file for later analysis.

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Why Managing Services and Processes is Important for Hackers

• System Reconnaissance: Identifying key processes and services is essential for penetration testing.
• Privilege Escalation: Exploiting weak service permissions can lead to privilege escalation.
• Persistence & Evasion: Attackers often hide malicious processes as legitimate ones to avoid detection.

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