Program Type

exe-type

 

When an existing .EXE program has been entered in the Program watch edit-field then the program type is displayed at this position.

 

The Program Type can be one of the following:

 

Windows GUI Program Type

Console Program Type

OS/2 Program Type

Posix ProgramType

Reserved 8 Program Type

Native Program Type

Unknown Program Type

 

Each program type can either be in 32-bit format or in 64-bit format.

 

On the reight side of the Program-Type label you can see a few letters like "-A----" or "R--SC-" etc. These letters show the current file-attributes of the loaded program file. They have the following meaning:

 

R (Read-only): When a file is set to read-only, it normally can't be overwritten or deleted. However, read-only files can still be deleted to the recycle bin as normal.

A (Archive): This attribute is usually used to indicate that a file needs to be archived. The "A" attribute is normally set automatically when a file is saved or edited, and backup tools can use this to tell that a file needs to be backed up (and they would then clear it automatically after doing so).

H (Hidden): Files are sometimes hidden with this file-attribute to protect them from being accidentally deleted or damaged by the user.

S (System): The system attribute is generally used in conjunction with the "H" attribute to mark files and folders that "belong" to the operating system.

E (Encrypted): This attribute indicates that the program file is transparently encrypted and decrypted by Windows. When a file is encrypted by Windows, only the users who have been automatically associated with the file by Windows will be able to use it.

C (Compressed): This attribute indicates that the file is compressed by Windows.

I (Non-Indexed): The file's content will not be indexed by the system (for searching), only its name and other metadata. This is however not relevant for .EXE program-files.

 

Clicking on this label opens a dialog where you can modify the file-attributes for this program file if you need to.

 

Otherwise, if an existing .MSC "program" (Microsoft management console file) has been entered in the Program watch edit-field then "Microsoft Management Console file" is displayed at this position. .MSC is a file extension for an XML Microsoft management console file format used by Microsoft Windows and is a collection of various snap in tools to simplify administration of a computer and create automatic tasks. As these are .XML files, they don't contain resources like .EXE files (PE files), so no internal data are displayed in the Data tab and no Security Icons are displayed. However, the Startup Duration and the Run Duration are displayed for .MSC files started from the Program watch edit-filed. Some examples of.MSC files:

 

devmgmt.msc: Starts the Windows Device Manager

secpol.msc: Starts the Windows Local Security Policy Editor

lusrmgr.msc: Starts the Local Users and Groups Manager

certmgr.msc: Starts the Certificate Manager tool  which manages certificates, certificate trust lists (CTLs), and certificate revocation lists

 

Please note: You can start .MSC "programs" also from the Program/Parameters edit-field:

parameters-msc

The advantage: A bigger icon is shown and the file size is displayed. The disadvantage: No Startup Duration and no Run Duration are displayed.

 

To get an overwiew of all .MSC files on your computer, open the PA-RUN Search window, activate this Search Location button programsearch-range-system32 and then search for "msc":

search-msc

This file-extension search mode is not possible in the Windows Start menu, only in PA-RUN!