how to find the current process handle?

Try the OpenProcess(0 windows API procedure.

That is supposed to be OpenProcess().

The OpenProcess() procedure allows you to specify which operations can be performed with the handle.  This allows you to limit the other process from taking actions with your proccess that you don't want.

the openprocess returns a handle that seems to be not valid for other processes.

No it is valid, it is not a pseudo handle.  What are your trying to do with it?

You might need to copy the handle for the target process using DuplicateHandle().  but I don't think that is necessary.

OK, ProcessA existe already, and I want to take controle on it from ProcessB (which would Terminate ProcessA).

I need to have a valid handle to ProcessA in ProcessB to perform that. But OpenProcess(PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS,false,id of ProcessA) returns a handle that cannot be used in TerminateProcess (Access is denied).

DuplicateHandle(). That is perhaps the solution. I need to try it. But ProcessA does not know about ProcessB, so it cannot duplicate a handle to it.

That is correct.  That is a security mechanism.  One proccess cannot get a handle to another process that could be used to terminate the process or do other dangerious things to the process.  

However, a process can create for itself handle that can be used to do "dangerious" things, like terminate.  It can then give this handle to other processes.  This way a process can control what other processes can do to it.  

Process A must create the handle with OpenProcess() and give it to process B.  Then process B can use it.

The "that is correct" refers to the comment where you described the behavior.  Not the DuplicateHandle() comment.  (It wasn't there when I read in the question.)

If process A does not know about process B, you are in trouble.  Process B cannot go around terminating processes without their permission.  That is a security violation.  That is dangerious.  

What exacly are you trying to do?

OK, what I try to do:

ProcessB is a GUI that controls the behaviour of ProcessA. If ProcessB (the GUI) wants to close ProcessA, B send to A a close request. Then B WaitForSingleObject(hProcessA). But this wait is never successfull, because hProcessA is not valid in ProcessB.

And I still do not succeed to pass from ProcessA a valid handle to ProcessB.

Did you write both process A and B?
Are they specific processes or could one of them be any running process?
How do the processes "know" about each other?
Does one process start the other?  (Which starts which?)
How are your trying to pass a handle from A to B?  How is the handle created?

Process B can do a lot more to process A if it owns process A. If B call CreateProcess to start A. B can call TerminateProcess to kill A with the handle returned by CreateProcess.

That's why I asked if one of the processes starts the other.

The other thing is that terminating a process is not a great thing to do.  It is better to get the process to terminate itself.  (That is why I asked some of those questions.)

If B creates A using CreateProcess(), the handle return in PROCESS_INFORMATION structure call be used to wait for A to finish.
If not, you should call DuplicateHandle() from process A and return the duplicated handle to B.

If you're writing both A and B, and B does not start A, the easiest method is to use a mutex or a semaphore. A should grab it upon startup and and then release it upon exit. B can try to gain access or wait for it, using its globally unique name.

thui,


great!!


I tried the ms sample from tlist, and now I have the privilege to terminate processA.
I just need now to disable the SE_DEBUG_NAME privilege to be sure my problem really was due to privileges. (The examples given in the msdev help and example files do not work to disable the privileges.)


thanks a lot for your help, and also for the other experts.

How did you get around the original problem of GetCurrentProcess always returning -1?

-d