Several Easy Steps to Secure Your Computer

Step 5 Remove Background Programs (Task Manager)

You can use Task Manager to start programs, to start or to end processes, and to view a dynamic display of your computer's performance.
How to start Task Manager
To start Task Manager, take any of the following actions:

• Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE, and then click Task Manager.
• Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC.
• Right-click an empty area of the taskbar, and then click Task Manager.

Your computer has a lot of programs running that you may not even know about. This step will show you where to find everything going on in your computer and stop some of the junk ones that you never use. Follow along in the pictures and in the step to learn how to view what's running and end the ones you don't want.

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Features and uses of Task Manager:

• View Programs that are running
• View Processes that are running
• Performance measures

How to exit, switch to, or start a program
The Applications tab displays the status of the programs that are running on the computer. To exit, switch to, or start a program, follow these steps:

1. Click the Applications tab.
2. Do one of the following, as appropriate for the action that you want to perform:

• Exit a program

To exit a program, click the program that you want to exit, and then click End Task.

Note When you exit a program in this manner, any unsaved data in that program is lost.

• Switch to another program

To switch to another program, click the program that you want to switch to, and then click Switch To.

• Start a program

To start a program, click New Task. In the Create New Task dialog box, click Browse, locate and select the program that you want to start, click Open, and then click OK.

Note This procedure is very similar to starting a program by using the Run command on the Start menu.

How to end a process
The Processes tab displays information about the processes that are running on the computer. A process can be an application that you start or subsystems and services that are managed by the operating system. To end a process, follow these steps.

Note Proceed with caution when you end a process. If you exit a program in this manner, data that has not been saved will be lost. If you end a system process, a system component may no longer function correctly. To match a process with a running program, right-click the program name on the Applications tab of Windows Task Manager, and then click Go To Process.

1. Click the Processes tab.
2. Do one of the following, depending on the action that you want to perform:

• If you want to end a single process, click the process that you want to end, and then click End Process.
• If you want to end a process and all processes directly or indirectly related to it, right-click the process that you want to end, and then click End Process Tree.

How to monitor your computer's performance
Click the Performance tab to view a dynamic overview of the performance of your computer. This includes the following measures:

• Graphs for CPU and memory usage
• The total number of handles, threads, and processes that are running

Handles are unique identifiers that allow a program to access system resources such as files, registry keys, fonts, and bitmaps. Threads are objects within processes that run program instructions.

• The total number of kilobytes (KB) that are used for physical, kernel, and commit memory