Definition of Windows NT executive in the Network Encyclopedia.
What is Windows NT executive?
Windows NT executive is a set of modules within the Microsoft Windows NT operating system that runs in kernel mode and provides process structure, memory and object management, thread scheduling, interrupt processing, security, and other key operating system functions.
The modules included in Windows NT executive are as follows:
- I/O Manager – Allows devices to communicate with user-mode subsystems.
- Object Manager – used to reduce the duplication of object resource management functionality in other executive subsystems, which could potentially lead to bugs and make development of Windows NT harder.
- Security Reference Monitor – The primary authority for enforcing the security rules of the security integral subsystem.
- Process Manager – Handles process and thread creation and termination, and it implements the concept of Job, a group of processes that can be terminated as a whole, or be placed under shared restrictions (such a total maximum of allocated memory, or CPU time).
- Local Procedure Call Facility (LPC Facility) – Provides inter-process communication ports with connection semantics.
- Remote Procedure Call Facility (RPC Facility)
- Virtual Memory Manager – Manages virtual memory, controlling memory protection and the paging of memory in and out of physical memory to secondary storage, and implements a general-purpose allocator of physical memory. It also implements a parser of PE executables that lets an executable be mapped or unmapped in a single, atomic step.
- Win32K Windows Manager and GDI – The Graphics Device Interface is responsible for tasks such as drawing lines and curves, rendering fonts and handling palettes.
- Hardware device drivers – Handles plug and play and supports device detection and installation at boot time.
