processhacker/processhacker

Free

A free, powerful, multi-purpose tool that helps you monitor system resources, debug software and detect malware.

FreeFree tier

Type

Open Source

Company

Winsider Seminars Solutions, Inc.

Visit Website GitHub (38 stars)

About processhacker/processhacker

System Informer (formerly Process Hacker) is a free, open-source, portable system monitoring and diagnostics tool for Windows 10 and later. It provides detailed real-time information about system processes, services, network connections, disk I/O, and handles. Key features include highlighting and graphs to track resource hogs, identifying which process has locked a file, viewing and terminating network connections, inspecting stack traces with kernel-mode, WOW64, and .NET support, and managing services beyond what services.msc offers. Built by Winsider Seminars Solutions, Inc., it is 100% free software licensed under MIT and requires no installation.

Key Features

Detailed overview of system activity with highlighting

Graphs and statistics to track resource hogs and runaway processes

Find which process is using a specific file

View and close active network connections

Real-time disk access information

Detailed stack traces with kernel-mode, WOW64, and .NET support

Create, edit, and control services beyond services.msc

Small, portable, no installation required

100% Free Software under MIT license

Pros & Cons

Pros

Completely free and open-source (MIT license)
Portable – no installation required
Comprehensive system monitoring with real-time graphs and highlighting
Includes advanced debugging features (kernel-mode, .NET stack traces)
Lightweight and runs on Windows 10 and higher

Cons

Only supports Windows 10 and later (no support for older versions)
Primarily a GUI tool; limited command-line usage
May have a steep learning curve for novice users due to advanced features
No native Linux or macOS support

Best For

Monitoring system resource usage and identifying performance bottlenecksDebugging software by inspecting process threads and stack tracesDetecting malware by analyzing processes and network connectionsManaging Windows services and driversTroubleshooting file locking issues

FAQ

Is System Informer free?

Yes, System Informer is 100% free software released under the MIT license.

What are the system requirements?

System Informer requires Windows 10 or higher, 32-bit or 64-bit.

How can I build System Informer from source?

Clone the repository, run build_init.cmd from the build directory, then run build_release.cmd or open the SystemInformer.sln solution in Visual Studio 2022 or later.

Can I run System Informer from a USB drive?

Yes, System Informer is portable. To save settings on a USB drive, create a blank file named SystemInformer.exe.settings.xml in the same directory as the executable.