Windows TAsk Manager-Processes

[Guest]

When I look at Processes running, I have 58 listed. Usuage is only at 10%,
but I have been told that I should not have 58 processes listed. Could this
be making my computer run slow? I have ended some of the processes that I
know are safe, but whenI sign on again, they all come back. I know there are
some that cannot be ended, but I don't know which. Should I do something
about the 58 processes, or just leave them>

 

[Malke]

When I look at Processes running, I have 58 listed. Usuage is only at
10%,
but I have been told that I should not have 58 processes listed. Could
this
be making my computer run slow? I have ended some of the processes that I
know are safe, but whenI sign on again, they all come back. I know there
are
some that cannot be ended, but I don't know which. Should I do something
about the 58 processes, or just leave them>

The number is irrelevant. There is no magic number that you "should" have.
You should have the processes running that your computer needs and that you
want.

Here are some sites where you can look up what you see in Task Manager. Then
you can decide if processes/programs should be running.

http://aumha.org/a/loads.htm - What loads at Startup?
http://castlecops.com/StartupList.html
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm
http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm
http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/
http://www.windowsstartup.com/wso/search.php
http://www.processlibrary.com/results/
http://www.kephyr.com/filedb/index.php?source=bottomlin
http://www.greatis.com/appdata/index.html
http://www.lafn.org/webconnect/mentor/startup/PENINDEX.HTM

Laptops will always have (and need) more processes running than desktops.

Malke

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

When I look at Processes running, I have 58 listed. Usuage is only
at 10%, but I have been told that I should not have 58 processes
listed. Could this be making my computer run slow? I have ended
some of the processes that I know are safe, but whenI sign on again,
they all come back. I know there are some that cannot be ended, but
I don't know which. Should I do something about the 58 processes,
or just leave them>

You've been told wrong. There is no magic number that is too many.

First, note that you should be concerned with *all* programs that start
automatically, not just with processes. Not all autostarting programs are
processes.

On each program you don't want to start automatically, check its Options to
see if it has the choice not to start (make sure you actually choose the
option not to run it, not just a "don't show icon" option). Many can easily
and best be stopped that way. If that doesn't work, run MSCONFIG from the
Start | Run line, and on the Startup tab, uncheck the programs you don't
want to start automatically.

However, if I were you, I wouldn't do this just for the purpose of running
the minimum number of programs. Despite what many people tell you, you
should be concerned, not with how *many* of these programs you run, but
*which*. Some of them can hurt performance severely, but others have no
effect on performance.

Don't just stop programs from running willy-nilly. What you should do is
determine what each program is, what its value is to you, and what the cost
in performance is of its running all the time. You can get more information
about these at http://castlecops.com/StartupList.html. If you can't find it
there, try google searches and ask about specifics here.

Once you have that information, you can make an intelligent informed
decision about what you want to keep and what you want to get rid of.

Could this be making my computer run slow?

Some of them could, but once again, it depends enirely on *what* you have
running.