Process Environment

A routine runs in the process environment when it is called by a user-mode process or by a kernel process.

Routines running in the process environment are executed at an interrupt priority of INTBASE (the least favored priority). A kernel extension running in this environment can cause page faults by accessing pageable code or data. It can also be replaced by another process of equal or higher process priority.

A routine running in the process environment can sleep or be interrupted by routines executing in the interrupt environment. A kernel routine that runs on behalf of a user-mode process can only invoke system calls that have no parameters passed by reference. A kernel process, however, can use all system calls listed in the System Calls Available to Kernel Extensions if necessary.