Troubleshooting Guide - Background Tasks

[The Star Hermit]

Background Tasks

Almost certainly there are a variety of programs running on your computer, eating up resources, even if you don't know they are there. These range from programs you have open to windows processes or even spyware running without your knowledge. Often these 'background tasks' cause conflicts when trying to play The Sims 2 and eat up some of your RAM that the game needs. Even users with plenty of system resources can still experience conflicts with background tasks such as Antivirus or Crashguard programs running. Thankfully it is easy to shut down background tasks and this can be done each time you want to play without affecting your computer.

Contents

1. Windows 95/98/ME
2. Windows 2000
3. Windows XP

[The Star Hermit]

a. Windows 95/98/ME

1. Hold down the Ctrl and Alt keys on your keyboard at the same time, and press the Delete key once. Warningo not press Delete twice, or you will re-start your computer.
2. Click on any program listed in this window, other than Explorer and Systray, then select the End Task button.
3. Repeat the previous steps until only Explorer and Systray are listed.

Note: Some programs can be stubborn and not close the first time you attempt to, usually requesting to close the program a second time will force it closed.

That's it. Don't forget that any background applications or processes that you shut down will be unavailable to you, but they will return to normal the next time you reboot.

[The Star Hermit]

b. Windows 2000

1. Hold down the Ctrl and Alt keys on your keyboard at the same time, and press the Delete key once.
2. Click on the Task Manager button to launch the Windows Task Manager.
3. Follow these steps to close unnecessary programs:

To Close Applications

1. Click on the Applications tab to view the list of active programs.
2. Click on any program listed in this window and select the End Task button.
3. Repeat the previous instructions until all programs have been closed.

To End Processes

1. Click on the Processes tab to view the list of active processes.
2. Click on any program listed in this window, other than those listed directly below, and press the End Process button.[list:cdc179e82f]
3. Csrss.exe
4. Explorer.exe
5. Internat.exe
6. Lsass.exe
7. Mstask.exe
8. Smss.exe
9. Spoolsv.exe
10. Svchost.exe
11. Services.exe
12. System
13. System Idle Process
14. Taskmgr.exe
15. Winlogon.exe
16. Winmgmt.exe

[*]Repeat the previous instructions until all unnecessary processes have been closed.[/list:cdc179e82f]
That's it. Don't forget that any background applications or processes that you shut down will be unavailable to you, but they will return to normal the next time you reboot.

[The Star Hermit]

c. Windows XP

1. Hold down the Ctrl and Alt keys on your keyboard at the same time, and press the Delete key once to display Task Manager if you have Home Edition.
2. If you have Professional Edition click Task Manager

To End Applications

1. Click on the Applications tab to view the list of active programs.
2. Click on any program listed in this window and select the End Task button.
3. Repeat the previous instructions until all programs have been closed.

To End Processes

1. Click on the Processes tab to view the list of active processes.
2. Click in the User Name column header to organize the processes by login.
3. Click on any program listed next to your Windows login, other than EXPLORER.EXE and TASKMGR.EXE, then select the End Process button.
4. Repeat the previous instructions until all programs associated to your Windows Login are closed other than TASKMGR.EXE and EXPLORER.EXE

Note: Do not close any processes running under SYSTEM, LOCAL SERVICE, or NETWORK SERVICE.

That's it. Don't forget that any background applications or processes that you shut down will be unavailable to you, but they will return to normal the next time you reboot.