When I press control+alt+delete and it brings up the Task Manager, what do all the items listed under “Processes” mean? Which ones are required? Will halting some increase my performance? Thanks.
Some are essential (svchost.exe), some are programmes running in the background (antivirus, firewall, etc.), but some could be nasty things like trojans (kernal32.exe springs to mind), viruses or adware.
If I ever see a process that I’m not quite sure what it is the I just do a search for that exact thing on Google.
I’m sure someone will be along in a minute with a better answer.
At the “Start–>Run” window, enter “services.msc”
Here is a guide for the various items you will find and some recommended settings.
You probably will not notice any performance improvement by tuning off various processes, but at least you will know what they are.