Windows session manager
The session manager is a file called smss.exe and is part of the Windows NT -based operating systems.
When the system is started, the Session Manager is called after the system drivers have been loaded. He has the following tasks:
- Starting CHKDSK if the system did not shut down properly
- Creating environment variables
- Start the Win32 subsystem ( win32k.sys , winsrv.dll , csrss.exe ). This enables the graphical user interface to be started .
- Set up virtual memory
- Replacing system files that cannot be replaced during normal operation
- Start the Windows NT logon process winlogon.exe
After the operating system has started, the session manager remains resident in memory and waits for the system to be shut down in order to initiate the necessary measures.