xp system processes

[DaMo]

Does anyone have a list or know by chance which processes I can safely close in Windows XP through the 'task manager > processes' screen?

[Kunta Kinte]

I just do a search for the process in Google. There usually is a definition of its process and whether Windows needs it or not.

[Jeremiah58]

I've found useful and free info here:
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

[hhhhbk]

To see what Services are running on your PC go to Run on the Start menu and type 'services.msc' (without the quotes) and this will open the Services dialogue box with a long list of items. You may recognise a few of them, like your anti-virus program but most of the file names are not very informative. If you look down the Startup Type column you will see they are all in one of three states: Automatic, Manual and Disabled; we are interested in thinning the Automatic ones, which start with Windows and if there's a lot of them - more than half the list, say, - then there should be plenty of scope for improvement.
For a general idea of what each Service does highlight each item in turn and a brief, jargon-riddled explanation appears to the left of the list (make sure the 'Extended' tab at the bottom of the list is highlighted). This is not terribly helpful but there are ways of finding out what they really do, and if you need them, but we'll come that in a moment. To change the status of a Service double-click on the entry and a dialogue box opens; on the General tab, under Startup Type, there's a drop-down menu that lets you select Automatic, Manual or Disabled, but don't touch anything yet!
Unfortunately there is no quick or easy way to disable unwanted Automatic Services en masse so you are going to have to work your way through the list and the best way to decide if a particular Service is required on your PC is to visit the following web sites:
www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm
www.beemerworld.com/tips/servicesxp.htm

[Stormin Norman]

If you mess up and turn off a bunch of stuff that has undesirable effects, you can go to the help topics and there is a "default settings" page in the help tree.

[EvilWizardGlick]

Go here
http://www.tweakxp.com/
All the service information you need as well as very many performance tweaks.

http://sysinfo.org/startuplist.php
A list of startups. Be cautious with these not all claimed are virus or worms.

Black Viper has the best service information, but the site seems to be undergoing an upgrade.
http://www.blackviper.com/

There are very many services that do not need to be running. Disable them or change them to manual through Control Panel/ Administrative Tools/ services.