Overview

ProcessDolphin is a lightweight yet powerful tool designed to map running processes to network connections on Windows systems. It allows users to visualize and analyze which processes are making network connections, where those connections are going, and how much data is being transferred.

Key Capabilities

• Process-to-Network Mapping: See exactly which processes are making network connections
• Network Visibility: View detailed information about each connection including source and destination IPs, ports, and data transfer metrics
• Process Details: Get comprehensive information about each process including PID, owner, memory usage, CPU utilization, and creation time
• Connection Monitoring: Track network connections in real-time with minimal system impact
• Export Functionality: Save connection data to CSV format for further analysis

Getting Started

System Requirements

• Windows 10 or Windows 11 (64-bit)
• 4GB RAM minimum (8GB recommended)
• 100MB free disk space

Installation

1. Download the ProcessDolphin installer package from the downloads page
2. Extract the ZIP archive to a location of your choice
3. Run ProcessDolphin.exe to launch the application
4. On first run, you may need to grant the application permission to monitor network connections

User Interface

ProcessDolphin features a clean, modern interface designed for efficiency and ease of use.

Main Application Window

The main window consists of several key areas:

• Header Bar: Contains the application logo, runtime statistics, and control buttons
• Process List: Shows all processes that have established network connections
• Detail Panel: Displays comprehensive information about the selected process and its network connections
• Status Footer: Shows the application version and status information

Control Buttons

• Run/Stop: Starts or stops the network monitoring process
• Export CSV: Exports the current connection data to a CSV file

Process List

The process list displays all processes that have established network connections since monitoring began. Each entry shows:

• Process name and icon
• Process ID (PID)
• Visual indicator for external connections (globe icon)

Processes with external network connections (outside your local network) are highlighted and sorted to the top of the list for easy identification.

Key Features

Real-Time Process Monitoring

ProcessDolphin constantly monitors all running processes on your system that have established network connections. The monitoring engine is designed to be lightweight, typically using less than 20% CPU resources while providing comprehensive visibility.

Network Connection Visualization

For each process, ProcessDolphin shows detailed network connection information including:

• Connection direction (inbound or outbound)
• Source and destination IP addresses and ports
• Network type classification (local, private, or external)
• Data transfer volumes
• Connection duration

Process Details

Comprehensive process information is available for each detected process:

• Process name and PID
• User/owner
• Memory usage
• CPU utilization
• Creation time
• Parent process information
• Command line details
• Thread count
• Disk I/O metrics

Search Functionality

The built-in search feature allows you to quickly find specific processes by name or PID, making it easy to locate and monitor particular applications of interest.

Process Monitoring

Starting Monitoring

To begin monitoring network processes:

1. Launch ProcessDolphin
2. Click the Run button in the upper right corner
3. The application will begin scanning for processes with network connections
4. After a moment, the process list will populate with detected processes

Process Information

ProcessDolphin collects detailed information about each process:

• Basic Details: Name, PID, owner, memory usage
• Performance Metrics: CPU usage, thread count, disk I/O
• Hierarchy: Parent process information
• Execution: Command line arguments, creation time

Network Mapping

Connection Types

ProcessDolphin categorizes network connections into different types:

• Localhost: Connections to 127.0.0.1 or ::1 (local machine)
• Private Network: Connections to private IP ranges (10.x.x.x, 192.168.x.x, etc.)
• External: Connections to public IP addresses (internet)

External connections are highlighted in the interface to make them easily identifiable.

Connection Details

For each connection, ProcessDolphin provides:

• Source IP and port
• Destination IP and port
• Connection direction (inbound or outbound)
• Connection start time and duration
• Data transfer metrics (bytes sent/received)

IP Type Classification

ProcessDolphin automatically classifies IP addresses into different categories:

Type	IP Range	Description
Localhost	127.0.0.1, ::1	Local machine connections
Private Network	10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, 192.168.0.0/16, 169.254.0.0/16	Internal/private network connections
External	All other IP addresses	External/internet connections

Data Export

CSV Export

ProcessDolphin allows you to export collected data in CSV format for further analysis or record-keeping:

1. Start monitoring processes
2. Let the application collect data for the desired period
3. Click the Export CSV button
4. A file named processdolphin_export_[timestamp].csv will be created in the same directory as the application

Export Format

The exported CSV file includes the following fields:

• Process Name
• PID
• Owner
• Memory (KB)
• Created Time
• Direction
• Last Activity
• Source IP
• Source Port
• Destination IP
• Destination Port
• Connection Duration (s)
• Bytes Sent
• Bytes Received

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

No Processes Displayed

If no processes appear in the process list after starting monitoring:

• Ensure you have administrator privileges
• Check if any security software is blocking ProcessDolphin
• Verify that there are active network connections on your system
• Try restarting the application

Missing Process Information

If certain process details are not displayed:

• Run ProcessDolphin as administrator
• Some system processes may restrict access to their information

Performance Issues

If ProcessDolphin is causing high CPU or memory usage:

• Ensure you meet the minimum system requirements
• Close other resource-intensive applications
• Try monitoring for shorter periods

Log Files

ProcessDolphin creates a log file at ~/processdolphin_log.txt that can be helpful for troubleshooting. This file contains application events and errors that may help diagnose issues.