Is it normal to have 47 processes running?

Question

Is it normal to have 47 processes running? For instance svchost.exe is listed 4 or 5 times using varying amounts of memory. Computer is sluggish and I intend to upgrade the memory, but I would like to know which processes I can terminate and how without doing it individually everytime I boot up.

Answer

This question was answered on March 6, 2006. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

The number of processes running varies depending on the operating system and what software you have installed. Svchost.exe is important to the smooth running of windows XP and should never be terminiated. 47 is normal. If you are concerned that any of the processes may be a virus, simply do a web search for any of the process names you are suspicious of.

128 MB of RAM is the minimum amount needed to operate XP smoothly, however as more applications are added that amount is no longer enough, so you should definitely upgrade.

You can also free up resources by disabling services you don't need. To do this follow these steps:

Click the "START" button

Select "RUN"

In the RUN box type "Services.msc"

This brings up the services window. Here you can set options for all the services on your machine that run in the background. For instance if you do not have a printer you can disable the Print Spooler service. When you highlight a service a description will appear on the left hand side. If that description is not enough to help you decide wether or not you should disable the service, then I suggest visting the Microsoft support site, or doing a web search for that particular service before proceding.

To disable a service right click on it and choose "Properties".

In the properties box you see the "Startup Type" box. Here you can set the Startup type of the service to Automatic, Manual, and Disabled. When you disable a service, it will not start when the computer starts up, saving all the resources that otherwise be used by it.

Author

Posted by daryl of Katharine Gibbs School - New York on March 6, 2006