Too Many Processes Running in Windows XP

[B2W]

How do I find out which processes belong to which programs on my PC. My laptop is running so slow because I have 80 processes going and I know because I do Ctrl Alt Del and click on Tast Manager. I closed the things I recognize like Itunes and other crap. Are there any programs that can close these things for me so that my laptop can run faster?

[AnthonyCea]

Yeah, you have to take unnecessary programs out of your start up that you don't use.

Go to RUN, type in msconfig and uncheck all the programs you don't use when surfing.

Be careful not to uncheck things you need, like Anti-virus programs and needed stuff that helps your computer function.

If you don't know or recognize the program you are unchecking, don't uncheck it until you find out what that program is, if you are unsure just run a Google search on the term to get some information on what it is.

[bufordt]

How do I find out which processes belong to which programs on my PC. My laptop is running so slow because I have 80 processes going and I know because I do Ctrl Alt Del and click on Tast Manager. I closed the things I recognize like Itunes and other crap. Are there any programs that can close these things for me so that my laptop can run faster?

They have all sorts of free utilities that you can use see what processes are attached to which programs.

[B2W]

Yeah, you have to take unnecessary programs out of your start up that you don't use.
Go to RUN, type in msconfig and uncheck all the programs you don't use when surfing.
Be careful not to uncheck things you need, like Anti-virus programs and needed stuff that helps your computer function.
If you don't know or recognize the program you are unchecking, don't uncheck it until you find out what that program is, if you are unsure just run a Google search on the term to get some information on what it is.

OK I will try this. Someone told me I should have 30 running at one time. I don't want to tell my DH because then he'll go uninstalling and deleting crazy. Thanks for you help.

[bufordt]

OK I will try this. Someone told me I should have 30 running at one time. I don't want to tell my DH because then he'll go uninstalling and deleting crazy. Thanks for you help.


On a newly reloaded system I have 39 processes running. I have a lot of monitoring software loaded on this system, so about 14 of those processes could be shutdown. 25 to 30 processes on an unburdened system is about right. 80 is way over the top.

[bigH2O]

Use Task Manager to check your running processes. For now leave anything alone that lists "System", "Local Service" or "Network Service" as the User Name, as these are usually critical system processes. Anything that is listed under your login name can be safely stopped (press "End Process") without affecting the stability of the system. Kill these one by one until you figure out what they are and whether you are actually using these processes. Also check in Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Services for the startup type of the various services that are running. If you see something that you don't need, like some oddball indexing service or QoS service, set the Startup Type to "manual".

It'll take time to identify these services and cull the ones you need to be rid of, but once it's done your system will hum a lot smoother.