Last week, I dug deep into Windows Task Manager and explained the most critical Windows processes, such as “lsass.exe” and “Explorer.exe”. In this second installment, I’m going to explain the more common Windows processes, some of which are important and some of which you can even disable to avoid unusual CPU and hard disk activity. [...]
Ever scanned through Windows Task Manager and wondered why there are so many processes running? Unfortunately, Windows isn’t really of any help: It doesn’t explain what entries, like “svchost.exe”, “rundll32.exe”, and “taskhost.exe”, mean and what’s causing them. Well, the TuneUp Blog about Windows is here to clear up the confusion. In a three-part series, I’m [...]
A couple of weeks ago, you have learned the basics of Windows 7s new Task Scheduler. A mighty little tool that helps you automate your PC, which – once set up – safes your time and nerves. Last time we used Task Scheduler to automatically launch a program. In this blog post, you’ll learn how [...]
One of the most powerful new features in Windows 7 (and Vista), Task Scheduler, is hidden deep inside the operating system and rarely used. It allows PC users to automate a number of actions, such as launching a cleaning tool on a weekly basis, solving a problem the moment it occurs, or simply displaying reminder [...]
Do you own a computer with multi-core processors? Have you heard about processor affinity? If not, you’ll learn here what it is and how it might help IT pros get more control over the performance of their applications. A little bit of background—many computers these days have multiple core processors. Unfortunately, there aren’t that many [...]
Does your PC seem to run slowly right after you start it? Did you follow all of the optimization tips we’ve covered on the TuneUp Blog so far? If so, your computer may be bogged down by a renegade process that continuously uses nearly all of your processor (or CPU) resources. In this post, I’ll show you just how much of an effect this has on your PC, what may be the cause and what you can do to prevent this from happening.
Let’s start this one off with a little, practical exercise. Are you with us? Good! Right-click on your taskbar, and select “Task Manager”. Now, take a good look at the numbers you see under the “Performance” tab. Let them sink in a bit.
