While Windows Task Manager provides extensive process details, uptime tracking remains a notable omission. For developers monitoring long-running services or debugging intermittent issues, knowing exact process duration is crucial. Here are reliable techniques to fill this gap.

The simplest approach uses PowerShell's Get-Process cmdlet combined with WMI data:

Get-Process | Select-Object Name, Id, StartTime | Format-Table -AutoSize

For more precise control, query Win32_Process directly:

$processName = "chrome"
$process = Get-WmiObject Win32_Process -Filter "name='$processName.exe'"
$uptime = (Get-Date) - $process.ConvertToDateTime($process.CreationDate)
Write-Host "$processName uptime: $($uptime.Days)d $($uptime.Hours)h $($uptime.Minutes)m"

For frequent use, implement this function in your profile:

function Get-ProcessUptime {
    param(
        [string]$Name,
        [int]$Id
    )

    $params = @{}
    if ($Name) { $params.Filter = "name='$Name.exe'" }
    if ($Id) { $params.Filter = "ProcessId=$Id" }

    Get-WmiObject Win32_Process @params | ForEach-Object {
        $uptime = (Get-Date) - $_.ConvertToDateTime($_.CreationDate)
        [PSCustomObject]@{
            Name    = $_.Name
            PID     = $_.ProcessId
            Started = $_.ConvertToDateTime($_.CreationDate)
            Uptime  = "$($uptime.Days)d $($uptime.Hours)h $($uptime.Minutes)m"
        }
    }
}

For application integration, use System.Diagnostics:

using System;
using System.Diagnostics;

public class ProcessUptimeChecker {
    public static TimeSpan GetUptime(int pid) {
        try {
            Process proc = Process.GetProcessById(pid);
            return DateTime.Now - proc.StartTime;
        }
        catch (Exception ex) {
            Console.WriteLine($"Error: {ex.Message}");
            return TimeSpan.Zero;
        }
    }
}

Be aware these methods have limitations:

• Requires administrator privileges for some system processes
• StartTime won't show for protected processes
• Processes started before your current boot won't show correct uptime

When monitoring multiple processes, cache WMI connections and reuse Process objects to minimize overhead. For high-frequency checks, consider using performance counters instead.

Windows Task Manager shows many process metrics - CPU usage, memory consumption, PID - but surprisingly omits one crucial piece of information: how long a process has been running. This becomes important when:

• Monitoring long-running services
• Troubleshooting memory leaks
• Verifying process restart policies
• Auditing system stability

Here's a one-liner that gets process uptime using PowerShell:

Get-Process | Select-Object Name, Id, @{Name="Uptime";Expression={(Get-Date) - $_.StartTime}}

Example output would show:

Name       Id Uptime
----       -- ------
chrome    1234 1.12:34:56.789
svchost   5678 5.02:10:15.333

For systems without PowerShell or when querying remote machines, WMI provides robust alternatives:

wmic process where "name='explorer.exe'" get name,processid,creationdate

This returns UTC timestamps that need conversion:

$process = Get-WmiObject Win32_Process -Filter "name='explorer.exe'"
$startTime = [Management.ManagementDateTimeConverter]::ToDateTime($process.CreationDate)
$uptime = (Get-Date) - $startTime
Write-Output "$($process.Name) running for $($uptime.Days)d $($uptime.Hours)h"

For integration into monitoring tools, consider this C# snippet:

using System;
using System.Management;

class ProcessUptime {
    static void Main() {
        ManagementObjectSearcher searcher = new ManagementObjectSearcher(
            "SELECT CreationDate FROM Win32_Process WHERE ProcessId = " + pid);
            
        foreach (ManagementObject obj in searcher.Get()) {
            string creationDate = obj["CreationDate"].ToString();
            DateTime startTime = ManagementDateTimeConverter.ToDateTime(creationDate);
            TimeSpan uptime = DateTime.Now - startTime;
            Console.WriteLine($"Uptime: {uptime.Days}d {uptime.Hours}h");
        }
    }
}

Watch for these scenarios:

• Processes started before system boot show incorrect times
• Daylight saving time adjustments may skew calculations
• Some system processes hide their true start time