How many processes are to many?

[Mark G.]

I run an AMD Barton 2800+ with a gig of matched ram with my OS as Win XP Pro
SP1. My computer is not at all slow, but I am what you might call a software
junkie. Therefore, immediately after startup, I already have about 78+/-
processes running when I go to the task manager. Is this to many? I use most
of the stuff fairly frequently. I am just curious if this is too much or is
there some kind of guideline to these kinds of things? I am not having
problems with my machine and/or software, but again, curious. Thanks much.

 

[R. McCarty]

There is no "Magic" number. In some ways a Personal Computer
is like a car. Use varies, Maintenance varies. What works for one
person will not for another.
A basic XP instance will have around 30-40 processes running. As
you load up applications - they add services, Startups & Watchdog
applications.
There are probably a few things that could be turned off. The issue
is performance and unforeseen problems. Turning off Services in the
wrong way (Set to disabled, instead of Manual) might cause a future
issue.
There are several web sites that describe Windows Services. What
they do and how to customize them.
Personally, I like investigating and learning about how things work &
interact. I've spent some time "Twiddling" with Services on my own
PC. At this moment, my machine has 27 active processes. But I do
not download/run "Trials" or new stuff on it. I use a Virtual PC for
that. I also take System Images regularly, so anything I do install can
be backed out very easily.
My best advice is research. Don't accept any single person's advice.
Read up on things, get confirmation on any suggested changes. And
most importantly, always have your system state protected and your
personal data backed up.

 

[DL]

Many app installs are added to the startup , and are shown in your task bar,
the majority of the time its hardly neccessary to have them constantly
running. Just check their options menu and stop them loading on startup.

 

[Richard Urban]

Too much would depend upon the system specs and how a person uses their
computer. For a hard core - on line - gamer, I would imagine that 20 system
processes would be looked upon as being "too much".

I currently have 67 processes running without effecting my system to my
dislike. I have 1.5 gig of RAM installed also. So those 67 processes , with
their somewhat fixed memory drain, is a lot less percentage wise on my
system than on a system that has only 256 meg of RAM.

--
Regards,

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[CWatters]

I run an AMD Barton 2800+ with a gig of matched ram with my OS as Win XP Pro
SP1. My computer is not at all slow, but I am what you might call a software
junkie. Therefore, immediately after startup, I already have about 78+/-
processes running when I go to the task manager. Is this to many? I use most
of the stuff fairly frequently. I am just curious if this is too much or is
there some kind of guideline to these kinds of things? I am not having
problems with my machine and/or software, but again, curious. Thanks much.

I have 48-50 on an 1800+ Athalon and it seems to work fine.

 

[Ken Blake]

In

I run an AMD Barton 2800+ with a gig of matched ram with my OS
as Win
XP Pro SP1. My computer is not at all slow, but I am what you
might
call a software junkie. Therefore, immediately after startup, I
already have about 78+/- processes running when I go to the
task
manager. Is this to many? I use most of the stuff fairly
frequently.
I am just curious if this is too much or is there some kind of
guideline to these kinds of things? I am not having problems
with my
machine and/or software, but again, curious. Thanks much.

There is no number that's too many. It depends entirely on how
and for what you use your computer. If you're not having
problems, leave it alone.

 

[kurttrail]

I run an AMD Barton 2800+ with a gig of matched ram with my OS as Win
XP Pro SP1. My computer is not at all slow, but I am what you might
call a software junkie. Therefore, immediately after startup, I
already have about 78+/- processes running when I go to the task
manager. Is this to many? I use most of the stuff fairly frequently.
I am just curious if this is too much or is there some kind of
guideline to these kinds of things? I am not having problems with my
machine and/or software, but again, curious. Thanks much.

Much like everything else in the universe, it is relative.

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com/mscommunity
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"

 

[djs0302]

R. McCarty wrote:
A basic XP instance will have around 30-40 processes running. As

you load up applications - they add services, Startups & Watchdog
applications.

30? I only have 14 processes running when I start up. Task Manager
shows 15 but you have to count that as 1 process.