How to find programs running in the background?

Question

My computer is slow to open. I have run Viper's virus program regularly.  I feel like there is a lot running in the background that is not visible to me.

Answer 1

My computer is slow to open. I have run Viper's virus program regularly.  I feel like there is a lot running in the background that is not visible to me. 

The less you have running all the time, the better the things you want to run will perform:

Use Autoruns to figure out what all is starting up when your computer does/when you log on. Look up anything you do not know about using Google (and/or ask here.) You can hopefully figure out if there are things starting when you computer does (or you logon) that you do not need and then configure them (via their own built-in mechanisms is the preferred method) so they do not start up - using your resources without reason.

You can download and utilize Process Explorer to see exactly what is taking up your processor/CPU time and memory. This can help you recognize applications you might want to look into alternatives for and/or get rid of all together.

Check for malware: (yes, please do this) ****

Download, install, run, update and perform full system scans with the following two applications:

• MalwareBytes (FREE)
• SuperAntiSpyware (FREE)

Removing everything they find. Rebooting when needed. (You can uninstall one or both when done.)

Then perform an online scan with the eSet Online Scanner. Remove whatever is found.

Reboot.

Answer 2

What is slow?

A minute, 3 minutes, 5 minutes?

When looking at long startup times, I find it helps to first determine exactly what your startup time is, then "see" what the startup items are and how long each one takes and them look at the "extra" startup items you might have and see if you need them starting up or not.

You need to have a good timing starting point before making adjustments.

Most systems have many extra startup items that are not needed for your system to be well mannered.

You can download a good free tool called Boot Log XP (bootlogxp) and measure and see graphically your entire startup process from end to end.  Then you will know exactly how long it takes and how long each individual startup process takes. When you know that, you can start making adjustments.

Only when you know how long things take and what the slow spots are, can you make informed decisions about what to do about them.  On the other hand, you could just start trying experiments and guessing.  That may work too eventually, but it will take longer to figure things out.

You can get Boot Log XP from the following site:

http://www.greatis.com/

Before running Boot Log XP, set your system up to automatically login so there is no human factor involved and test the automatic login part first by rebooting to be sure it is working properly and you get logged in automatically to the desktop.

So that you can undo any adjustments you might make, before starting, manually create a System Restore point and backup your registry using this popular free tool:

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/erunt.html

When you run Boot Log XP, you will need to restart your system so it can measure things.  Wait patiently for it to completely finish and you will get a graphical report in a Boot Diagram and then you can "see" how long each startup process on your system takes and the total time.

In the chart, you would be looking for long horizontal lines (and say "What is that?!") that show you how long each startup process takes, then you can research them to see if you need them starting or not.

You can also generate and export a report that you can save, share it, print it, etc.  If you can't figure it out or have questions, export the short text file report to a text file and copy and paste the contents of just the short text file report back here for analysis and suggestions.  Just send the short text report, not the long text report.  The short text report.

Then when you start to make adjustments, you can run the Boot Log XP tool again and see what effects your adjustments have on your startup time.  Be careful not to just disable things willy nilly or you might find yourself in some trouble.  If you are not sure, ask.  Just do one or two things at a time and test again.

I can see that it takes my system exactly 18.03.024 seconds to boot, but I have zero startup items configured at boot time.  If I start adding things like MSE, some diagnostic programs, Skype and mobile device support, it goes to 48 seconds, but I don't need those things running all the time, so I keep them disabled unless I need them.  That may not be the right configuration for everybody, but I am all about looking for better performance.

Somebody can help you look at your startup items and perhaps spot some things you don't need if you do this:

Download and install CCleaner from here:

http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

Launch CCleaner and click Tools, Startup and in the bottom right of the screen, click the "Save to text file" button to save the Startup information to a text file (name it something like:

startup.txt

Save the startup information to your desktop (or someplace you can find it) open the text file with a text editor, select all the text (Ctrl-A) copy it (Ctrl-C) and and paste (Ctrl-V) the contents of the startup list back here for analysis.

Uninstall CCleaner later if you don't like it (most people seem to like it for it's other features).

Here is what my startup.txt file looks like:

That's right - empty... but you may have a few things, but most folks have more things than they need.  I run lean!

Answer 3

What is slow?

A minute, 3 minutes, 5 minutes?

When looking at long startup times, I find it helps to first determine exactly what your startup time is, then "see" what the startup items are and how long each one takes and them look at the "extra" startup items you might have and see if you need them starting up or not.

<snipped>

Not sure they are referring to operating system startup times but individual application startup times.

Answer 4

My computer runns slow and has a lot of ad pop ups which interfer with what i am viewing and it freezes up often.  I feel like there are a lot of open programs that I can't see. I have spy and virus programs that run everyday.

Answer 5

ctrl + alt + delete > task manager > services (TAB)

now under STATUS' column view all the running programs...

right click (any funny running program you suspect)

select OPEN SERVICES' > and view the "startup type" column....

choices:

AUTOMATIC

MANUAL

DISABLE

Manual (Trigger Start)

[[From experience, Switch whatever program to Manual and view effects, but do not switch back and forth a whole bunch of programs you know not what they do. some things like DESKTOP startup AUTOMATICALLY so that you can view the programs on the desktop or the personal display settings require etc. etc. you get the point. ]]

Dondre' Charleston S.C Hebrew