How do I use Windows Task Manager(End Task)

I'm a newbie here,and I have another stupid question to ask everyone who can be of help.How do I use Windows Task Manager.Which processes should I end,I know some should not be touched or it will make something not function but thats all I know.Does it have to do with processes running in the backround? can somebody help me understand all this,so I don't mess something up.

 

Hi Newbie,

The TaskManager > processes tab is where everything that runs shows up. TM should not be used to end a process unless it's an emergency - program hangs or gives you problems. And anything ended here is temporary, will restart at next bootup and depending on what it is - an XP service for instance - may crash the system.

The place to eliminate unecessary processes - things that startup at boot - should be tackled in msconfig > startup tab.

You can start by going to these sites and comparing what starts up that is either useless or can be on-demand.

http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

http://www2.whidbey.com/djdenham/index.htm

http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/system/ Windows System Startups

http://www.windowsstartup.com/wso/search.php

Regards - Charles

 

Ending a process in Windows Task Manager

I was wondering how I actually know which process to end?.I know you should only end a process in task manager when it's an emergency,but I think I might have processes hanging.There are 53 processes showing up and my computer has been acting too slow all the sudden, is this why?.What about things like ybrowser.exe,I alot of those flashing.What should I do,I'm very new to computers so I'm not sure what I'm really doing

 

How to use Task Manager(End Task)

thanks for responding,I think I'm starting to finally manage things a little better it's just a matter of understanding everything.I kept having problems with all theese duplicate ybrowser.exe. showing up in task managers running processes.I accessed msconfig,went to the start tab and uncheck the ypager boxes and now they don't reappear when I restart the computer.So I guess it's best to end processes through msconfig instead of individually ending a process,right?If I end a windows process that would be a bad idea,causing something to not work ,system crash even?.So if I ended the yahoo(ypage) broser processes which seem to have cleared all the issues then I'm on thew right track?.It should still not interfere with it working,I can always recheck the box,so I'm not to worried as long as I be cautious which process to end.I keep askin cuz I've visited the web site you suggested already.

 

Newbie24--
1) Specific to ybrowser.exe, perhaps this applies
http://www.newbie.org/help/messages/10809.html
2) I can't add anything to charlesvar's suggestion that you limit programs from starting in the first place by using the links he has given you for descriptions of what in indicated as starting at boot (checked box) in MSCONFIG. So your focus should be on MSCONFIG and not Task Manager. (And blackviper's suggestions about Task Manager could be a little aggressive if you do not know what you are doing. More conservative is
http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm )
3) But a slow PC could mean that you have spyware. Have you scanned with a spyware detector?
AdAware
http://www.lavasoft.de/support/download/
SpybotS&D
http://www.safer-networking.org/
Before you scan, get the latest updated reference files.

 

msconfig(start up tab)

Yes,I agree that the web site he told me to check out can be a little agressive if your not sure what you are doing.I have checked that site and tried the whole comparison thing,with what should boot.I will check out Newbie.com.I do have the free version of kazaa,which is free with Ads,can this be slowing it down,it was fine before untill recently and I always had Kazaa,what about Gator??

 

I do have the free version of kazaa,which is free with Ads,can this be slowing it down,it was fine before untill recently and I always had Kazaa,what about Gator??

Bad things and need to go away. See your "My Computer was very fast,Now it's too slow?" thread in the spyware section.