Too many processes active - how can I manage this

[Tom S]

My Task Manager shows 80 to 100 processes are active. How do I know which
ones I can shut down? How do I prevent this many processes from becoming
active in the future? There must be a smarter way of managing my PC
resources, but I don't know where to turn. Any suggestions are most
appreciated.

 

[John John - MVP]

Tom S wrote:
> My Task Manager shows 80 to 100 processes are active. How do I know which
> ones I can shut down? How do I prevent this many processes from becoming
> active in the future? There must be a smarter way of managing my PC
> resources, but I don't know where to turn. Any suggestions are most
> appreciated.

Do a search on the internet for the running processes and find out what
they are for. Sites like these have good information on a number of
processes:

Answers That Work - Task List Programs
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

Windows XP x86 (32-bit) Service Pack 3 Service Configurations by Black Viper
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

Services Guide for Windows XP
http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm

Runscanner Public process list
http://www.runscanner.net/filelist.aspx?l=a

Startup Applications List
http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php

John

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

On Tue, 23 Mar 2010 05:51:02 -0700, Tom S <Tom
S@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> My Task Manager shows 80 to 100 processes are active. How do I know which
> ones I can shut down? How do I prevent this many processes from becoming
> active in the future? There must be a smarter way of managing my PC
> resources, but I don't know where to turn. Any suggestions are most
> appreciated.



My advice is not to attempt to shut any of them down. The number is
slightly high, but not extraordinarily so. Shutting down processes is
more likely to get you into trouble than doing anything good for you.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

 

[Unknown]

Modify your startup folder. Don't load programs not needed at bootup and
then check the number of processes.
Also try shutting down malware programs and then check number of processes.
"Tom S" <Tom S@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:C07B0601-3041-4CAC-8448-C756213DE64E@microsoft.com...
> My Task Manager shows 80 to 100 processes are active. How do I know which
> ones I can shut down? How do I prevent this many processes from becoming
> active in the future? There must be a smarter way of managing my PC
> resources, but I don't know where to turn. Any suggestions are most
> appreciated.

 

[db]

one method to see which
processes are vital for
windows and those that are
not is to launch windows in
safe mode.

you will likely see a much
shorter list of processes in
safe mode than in normal
mode.

this is because superfluous
processes are not loaded
in safe mode.

these superfluous processes
are the result of third party
applications that run at
windows normal startup.

a method to reduce superfluous
processes is to disable third
party applications that are not
necessary to run at startup but
configure themselves to do so.

basically one of the few programs
that should run at windows startup
is your antivirus program.

all else should be started manually
and at your convenience.
--

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces
- Microsoft Partner
- @hotmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~"share the nirvana" - dbZen

>
>

"Tom S" <Tom S@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:C07B0601-3041-4CAC-8448-C756213DE64E@microsoft.com...
> My Task Manager shows 80 to 100 processes are active. How do I know which
> ones I can shut down? How do I prevent this many processes from becoming
> active in the future? There must be a smarter way of managing my PC
> resources, but I don't know where to turn. Any suggestions are most
> appreciated.