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Identify running processes in Task Manager - Windows XP / Vista
In the battle against spyware and viruses, it is often necessary to close down programs that are running using the task manager.
Most Windows XP admins start their troubleshooting procedure by checking running processes to gather information about the programs or viruses that are currently impeding PC performance.
How many processes are running in the background?
You do this through the Processes tab in Task Manager. If you are running Windows XP, simultaneously press Ctrl-Alt-Del, or right-click the task bar at the bottom of the screen to open the Task Manager. In Windows Vista you can either simultaneously press Ctrl-Shift-Esc, or right-click the task bar at the bottom of the screen.
You now find yourself presented with a long, and rather cryptic, list of processes. Some processes you may be able to readily decipher because they directly relate to a program that you are running at the time, such as iexplore.exe (Internet Explorer), WINWORD.exe (Microsoft Word), or TASKMGR.exe (Task Manager), notepad.exe (Notepad). However, other processes, such as svchost.exe or services.exe, are not as easy to identify.
Here is a list of processes in XP that are essential:
- taskmgr.exe
- explorer.exe
- svchost.exe
- spoolsv.exe
- lsass.exe
- services.exe
- winlogon.exe
- csrss.exe
- smss.exe
- System Idle Process
Likely you will have a few svchost.exe's running. Some of these are essential processes of Windows XP. Others can be shut down. But it's hard to tell.
How to identify svchost.exe and services.exe processes in Task Manager
svchost.exe is a generic host process name for services run from dynamic-link libraries (DLLs). You'll also see a process titled services.exe, which hosts several essential Windows operating system services. You can learn more about specific services that are running as svchost.exe or services.exe processes by using the Services tool. Here's how:
- Go to Control Panel | Administrative Tools, and double-click Services.
- In the Services tool, click on the Status column header to sort the services so those that are started are at the top of the list.
- Double-click on one of the services and check the Path To Executable text box.
If the Path To Executable text box lists svchost.exe or services.exe, you've identified a specific service that is associated with a running process. To learn more about the service, you can check the Description panel on the Extended panel of the Services tool.
Learn more:
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