WIN XP Pro Task Manager Question

[farmercal]

I am new to WIN XP and noticed that under the Task Manager when I only had IE and Outlook Express running it showed under Applications that these were the only two programs running but under Processes it showed 27 processes running or just available since CPU usage was 00. I seems that all these processes are using up a lot of my memory. It is that true?

Let's say you wanted to stop them from loading up in there, would you do that from inside the task manager or somewhere else?

One more note...I take it some of thoses processes are necessary to operate windows so the only one I should close are the ones with my name beside them correct or am I thinking incorrectly?

Sorry for asking so many questions but this has been bugging me and a friend of mine for a while now.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated as always.

 

[YaKuZa]

It is that true?

depending on how much ram you have, i wouldnt worry.

Let's say you wanted to stop them from loading up in there, would you do that from inside the task manager or somewhere else?

under administrative tools in the control panel.

One more note...I take it some of thoses processes are necessary to operate windows so the only one I should close are the ones with my name beside them correct or am I thinking incorrectly?

well, some processes like explorer automatically load up and i dont think you want to stop that process. most of the processes with your name by them are applications, but some arent.

 

[FlowerMan]

If you haven't installed a bunch of crap software, you shouldn't have to worry about what pops up under the "processes" tab. Those are most likely critical programs or useful ones that control your mouse's extra features, sound card, keyboard, etc... most of the stuff in your icon tray.

I counted up all of my processes stuff, and with IE/acrobat reader open, there's less than 100MB used up. If you have 256MB or more (the recommended amount for XP), then that is fine

You can stop the programs you don't want to start with windows by typing "msconfig" in the Run prompt.

 

[Buz2b]

If you have 256MB or more (the recommended amount for XP), then that is fine

I agree with 99% of what you wrote but there was one mistake; MS "recommends" 128 MB but says it will actually run with 64, "although some features may not function correctly". God I love their "mis-speak".
EDIT: Actually, I just looked at the "kit" I recieved from MS today; the GO PRO one they just sent out to some (those that got it will know what I mean). Basically it is a promotional resellers kit for XP Pro. On it the remark about RAM is as follows:

128 Megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended (64 MB minimum supported; may limit performance and some features)

That is an exact quote from the package. So, in essence maybe "FlowerMan" has a bit of a point. They clearly state that 128 MB or higher are recommended. That leaves a lot to interpretation. However, I think and have seen, it run just fine (although a bit slow) on 128 MB and a 400 MHz CPU.

Re-Edit (to avoid another post right after the last one): I realize I did not however assist in your quandry about the "processes" that are running in the background. While it may be true that some of those items can "reserve" some memory, a great many do not carry the same significance as what you see in MSCONFIG. Most of those will undoubtedly be PROGRAMS that are running. You can still see that after doing a CTRL-ALT-Delete and clicking on "Applications". Many of the Processes are insignificant small files that maintain your OS and shouldn't be shut down. There was an excellent article on this once and I will try to find it again. Basically it listed those items that you needed and those you did not. I'll see if I can find it again.

 

[farmercal]

Thanks for the advice. I haven't gotten a good handle on WIN XP just yet but so far I like what I have seen over Mellenium. It's like night and day.

 

[Buz2b]

Here is an article on XP services and their removal. It is not the one I was looking for but it does provide some help. Proceed with caution if you decide to remove any of them and make sure you know what you are removing.