Resource Guardian 🛡️

A Windows utility to manage processes and services safely. Stop non-critical items gracefully, restore them with one click, and protect critical system components using exclusion lists. Built with C# and .NET.

Please note, I'm trying to learn C# again after 10 years, so code may be rusty.

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Features ✨

• Intelligent Process/Service Management

  • Graceful termination with automatic force-kill fallback
  • Predefined safe list (predefined_safe_list.json) for recommended stoppable items
  • Protected system processes/services (e.g., csrss, EventLog)

• State Persistence

  • Save/load selections via termination_selections.json
  • Restore previously stopped items with single-click recovery

• Admin Mode

  • UAC elevation for privileged operations
  • Handles "Access Denied" errors for protected resources

• Diagnostic Tools

  • Automatic logging of protected items (protected_items.log)

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Installation ⚙️

Requirements

• Windows 10/11
• .NET 6 Desktop Runtime
• Administrator privileges (recommended)

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/Jaydeeph/Resource-Guardian.git
cd resource-guardian
dotnet build

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Usage 🖥️

1. Launch Application
   Right-click executable → Run as Administrator for full access.

2. Main Interface

   • Processes Tab: View executable paths and select non-critical processes
   • Services Tab: Manage Windows services with display names
   • Status Bar: Operation feedback and error messages

3. Core Actions

   Button	Action
   🛑 Stop Selected	Gracefully terminate checked items
   🔄 Restore	Relaunch previously stopped items
   ⚙️ Settings	Configure persistent selections

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Configuration ⚙️

Key Files

File	Purpose
predefined_safe_list.json	recommended safe-to-stop items
termination_selections.json	User's saved selections
app.manifest	Admin privilege configuration

Custom Safe List Example

{
  "Processes": ["notepad", "chrome"],
  "Services": ["WSearch", "Fax"]
}

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Troubleshooting ⚠️

Issue: "Access Denied" errors
Solution:

1. Always run as Administrator
2. Check protected_items.log for skipped items
3. Update predefined_safe_list.json if false positives occur

Issue: Selections not persisting
Solution:

1. Verify termination_selections.json exists in executable directory
2. Ensure selections use process/service names not display text

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Contributing 🤝

1. Fork the repository
2. Create feature branch (git checkout -b feature/improvement)
3. Commit changes (git commit -m 'Add feature')
4. Push to branch (git push origin feature/improvement)
5. Open Pull Request

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License 📄

MIT License - See LICENSE for details

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To Do:

• Add screenshots
• Improve GUI
• Add AI suggestions for application/service termination
• Add diagnostic tools
• Add run on startup