You should be aware of what is running on your PC as this is critical not only for the proper functioning of your PC and also for its continued security. There could be situations when you need to know what is running on your machine. One such situation could be if your computer is running abysmally slow. Another situation could be when you realize that your machine has been infected with spurious programs. These programs may be compromising your computer by accessing private information. Besides, if you are interested it is always worth knowing what is running on your computer.

There are several ways to know what's happening in the background. We will discuss the options for a computer running Windows. The easiest option is to use the tool called Task Manager. There are two ways you can invoke it. One way is to press the ctrl,alt,delete keys simultaneously. This will bring up a screen where you need to choose Task Manager or Task List. The correct option depends on the version of your Windows. The other option is to navigate as Start>Run and then type taskmgr.exe and the task manager process gets invoked.

This program has 4 -6 tabs depending on the version of Windows loaded on your machine. The common ones are Applications, Processes, Performance and Networking. There is an additional one for Users if you have multiple users setup on your machine.

The Applications tab shows the status of the programs running on your computer. These programs can be seen on your taskbar usually on the bottom of your screen. From this tab you can perform three actions - end, switch to, or start a program.

The Processes tab shows information about the processes running on your computer. A process is an executable program or service running on the computer. You can display information on CPU and memory usage, page faults, handle count, and a number of other parameters. You can choose to display upto 25 different parameters pertaining to each process. This tab basically shows everything running on your computer.

This tab also shows you the users through which these programs or services are running. The System, Local Service and Network Service usernames are used by the operating system and these processes should be left alone. If you are not sure about any program then note the image name and read about it on google'. If it is spurious program then get rid of it.

The Performance tab displays a graphical and dynamic overview of your computer's performance. It displays

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