Member Avatar for Setune

drivers? I am not very clear about this?
Thanx for your help?

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Brief addendum to the thread by and : drivers are one class of resident software, but in Windows the term "memory resident" covers several other, commonly seen things. Resident components include kernel-mode drivers and file-system/minifilter drivers, long-running services (hosted by svchost.exe), core system processes that start at boot, and persistent background agents such as cloud-sync or antivirus engines that register for real-time monitoring. The historical DOS "TSR" idea maps only loosely to modern Windows: today persistence is usually implemented as drivers or services rather than a single tiny TSR binary (TSR history).

Quick ways to inspect what stays loaded:

driverquery /v
tasklist /svc
sc query state= all

For deeper inspection, use Sysinternals Process Explorer or Autoruns to see loaded drivers, services and autostart entries (Process Explorer, Autoruns). The Services documentation explains the service model and start types (Windows services).

Cautions and troubleshooting tips: kernel drivers run in kernel space and can cause system instability if faulty; use Safe Mode to disable problematic drivers, update vendor-supplied drivers, and check digital signatures before installing. For diagnostic traces and persistent leaks, collect a memory dump or use Process Explorer to observe handle/privilege usage before making changes.

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Member Avatar for dickersonka

sure, a mouse driver and video drivers are good examples

they aren't removed from memory and stay resident, because they are essential to the operating system's workings

a non resident example would be a program you would code and execute, the only time it needs to be in memory is when you are running it, then it is cleared(at least should be)

Member Avatar for Setune

Thanks a lot!

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