Problem with Killing windows explorer?

Question

I need to kill windows explorer\'s process (explorer.exe), for that

lets say i use a native NT method TerminateProcess

It works but the problem is that the

Answer 1

Here's another solution to this problem - instead api calls it uses an external tool shipped with windows (at least Win 7 Professional):

    public static class Extensions
    {
        public static void ForceKill(this Process process)
        {
            using (Process killer = new Process())
            {
                killer.StartInfo.FileName = "taskkill";
                killer.StartInfo.Arguments = string.Format("/f /PID {0}", process.Id);
                killer.StartInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
                killer.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
                killer.Start();
                killer.WaitForExit();
                if (killer.ExitCode != 0)
                {
                    throw new Win32Exception(killer.ExitCode);
                }
            }
        }
    }

I know that Win32Exception may not be the best Exception, but this method acts more or less like Kill - with the exception that it actually kills windows explorer.

I've added it as an extension method, so you can use it directly on Process object:

    foreach (Process process in Process.GetProcessesByName("explorer"))
    {
        process.ForceKill();
    }

You must first ensure that the taskkill tool is available on production environment (it seems that it's been for a while with windows: https://web.archive.org/web/20171016213040/http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/taskkill.mspx?mfr=true).

EDIT: Original link dead, replaced with cache from Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Updated documentation for Windows 2012/2016 can be found at: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/taskkill