What are all these processes?

[Steve]

Is it possible to get hold of a list of what all these "processes" do that
appear on task manager?

I'd really like to know what they're up to, partly out of curiosity, partly
because I strongly suspect I don't need all of them all of the time.

Also - and I don't think Microsoft appreciates this point enough - many
personal computers contain personal and private data and so become quite
intimate parts of our lives, like our houses. I don't mind not fully
understanding the wiring in my house, so long as I know exactly what it does
and why it's useful. However, I think most of us would be made a little
uncomfortable if someone came and installed an anonymous and irremovable
black box on our living room walls. "Don't worry about this. It's necessary
for the maintainance of your building," is not enough.

I would like to know what these things are please.

Steve

 

[Melissa]

Steve wrote:


Is it possible to get hold of a list of what all these "processes" do that appear on task manager? I'd really like to know what they're up to, partly out of curiosity, partly because I strongly suspect I don't need all of them all of the time. Also - and I don't think Microsoft appreciates this point enough - many personal computers contain personal and private data and so become quite intimate parts of our lives, like our houses. I don't mind not fully understanding the wiring in my house, so long as I know exactly what it does and why it's useful. However, I think most of us would be made a little uncomfortable if someone came and installed an anonymous and irremovable black box on our living room walls. "Don't worry about this. It's necessary for the maintainance of your building," is not enough. I would like to know what these things are please. Steve


There's a good explanation of all services at this site.

http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

 

[Chuck]

Is it possible to get hold of a list of what all these "processes" do that
appear on task manager?

I'd really like to know what they're up to, partly out of curiosity, partly
because I strongly suspect I don't need all of them all of the time.

Also - and I don't think Microsoft appreciates this point enough - many
personal computers contain personal and private data and so become quite
intimate parts of our lives, like our houses. I don't mind not fully
understanding the wiring in my house, so long as I know exactly what it does
and why it's useful. However, I think most of us would be made a little
uncomfortable if someone came and installed an anonymous and irremovable
black box on our living room walls. "Don't worry about this. It's necessary
for the maintainance of your building," is not enough.

I would like to know what these things are please.

Steve

Steve,

If you want to know more about the many processes running on your computer, get
Process Explorer (free) from
<http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/procexp.shtml>. Provides way more
information than Task Manager. You can look at any process and see what modules
it contains, and who wrote or distributed each module.

For a good reference to the many system services (background processes), see
<http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm>. For discussion about most
processes in general (what is each one, what does it do, is it necessary), just
type it in to your favorite search engine. Anything dangerous is being
discussed somewhere on the web.

Learn to munge your email address properly, to keep yourself a bit safer when
posting to open forums.
http://www.mailmsg.com/SPAM_munging.htm

Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Steve]

Chuck,

Thanks very much for the advice.

Also, I never heard of "munging" before! That's why I'm getting all that
spam (and virus attachments - so far saved by NAV).

 

[Steve]

Except obviously I'm having trouble munging!

Chuck,

Thanks very much for the advice.

Also, I never heard of "munging" before! That's why I'm getting all that
spam (and virus attachments - so far saved by NAV).

 

[Chuck]

Chuck,

Thanks very much for the advice.

Also, I never heard of "munging" before! That's why I'm getting all that
spam (and virus attachments - so far saved by NAV).

My pleasure, Steve. Advice is what Usenet is for. I get more than I give.

Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.