A customer once asked me "Is there any free software that allows me to see and disable unwanted programs running in the background?"

Probably, but I know something better than free software for this job: software that comes with Windows. All current versions of Windows come with a tool to help you trim back what's running at the moment.  The look, behavior, and feel of this tool changed drastically (and for the better) with Windows 8. I'll cover Windows 7 and Windows 8 here, but the Windows 7 directions should work reasonably well with XP and Vista. The tool is called Task Manager. To open it, right-click the taskbar and selecting Task Manager or Start >Task Manager, depending on your version of Windows.

Windows 7
In the Windows 7 version, the Applications tab displays currently-running applications. But what's the difference between an application and a program? In this context, an application is a program with its own window--either visible on the desktop or minimized to the taskbar. For instance, your browser, if it's running, is an application and is listed here. Your antivirus program won't show up in this list until you double-click the tiny icon in the notification area and bring up the window.

All applications can be closed from within the application--you just click the X in the upper-right corner. But if that doesn't work, you can use the End Task button on Task Manager's Applications tab. But if Windows is overloaded, the problem is probably not applications, but processes--threads of code running in the background. So click the Processes tab. As I write this, the Task Manager tells me that I'm running three applications, but 134 processes--16 just for Chrome.

Windows 7 Task Manager Processes
The Processes tab is laid out as a table, and like most Windows tables, you can sort it by clicking the column headings. Click Image Name, and you alphabetize the processes. Click CPU, and you can see which processes are hogging the processor (most aren't). Click Memory, and you'll see which ones are hogging RAM. To stop a process, click the End Process button, and confirm that that's what you really want to do.

The Windows 8 version behaves much the same way. The window is better designed and easier to read, and there are a few important differences.

First of all, there's no Applications tab. But you'll see both applications and Metro/Modern Interface apps listed at the top of the Processes tab.

This layout allows you to see programs and processes together. Windows places icons next to the processes to help you figure out what program launched them. 

Windows 8 Task Manager 
But you might notice that the Processes tab lacks a Description column--a seemingly serious deficiency if you're trying to figure out what a process does. But there's a solution. Right-click the process you're wondering about and select Go to details. This will take you to the Details tab, where the Description column now lives. It will also take you to the same process, so you don't have to look for it again.

One of the pains of Windows is how long it takes for an older PC to start up. Sometimes this can be caused by hardware problems like a faulty hard drive, but more often than not the culprits are all those programs trying to activate at boot.

As you install more programs on your system, you inevitably end up with more apps that want to insert themselves into your PC’s startup routine.

Some of those operations are critical and shouldn’t be turned off such as antivirus, but many are really unnecessary. I suppose it’s nice to have Google Now alerts and Hangouts on your desktop at boot, but I think I can wait until I turn on Chrome to find out the latest World Cup scores or chat with friends.

Before Windows 8.1, figuring out which programs were causing start-up problems was not as easy as it should’ve been. That’s why programs that promise to speed up your boot times—like CCleaner and Soluto—have flourished.

In Windows 8.1, life is much simpler thanks to a new addition to the Task Manager.

Here’s how to maximize your startup time and find out which programs are slowing you down in Windows 8.1.

Don’t worry, Windows 7 users: There’s a way for you to trim your startup bloat as well.


Windows 8.1

Microsoft built into the Windows 8.1 Task Manager a fantastically easy way to check your Startup programs. Hit Control-Alt+Delete on your keyboard and then on the next screen select Task Manager with your mouse.

Now you’ll be kicked back to the desktop. Inside the Task Manager window click on theStartup tab. Next you’ll see a list of programs that turn on when you boot up your desktop.

What we want to focus on is the Startup impact column and those with a rating of “High.” These are the programs we’ll want to consider disabling at startup.

Keep in mind that any programs you disable have to be manually started later on if you want to use them. An antivirus program will inevitably have a high rating, but it would be unwise to disable it at startup since you want it scanning your PC all the time.

Don’t worry, you’ll have no trouble finding programs to dump. For myself, I went after BitTorrent Sync, which is a great program, but I don’t use it enough to justify always having it on. BlueStacks, which lets you run Android apps on Windows, is also an unnecessary item for me at startup.

Other programs that felt my wrath were Google Chrome, Google Music Manager, and MP3 Skype Recorder. Once you’re finished with the “high” impact programs, you can also take a look at the ones with “medium” impact to ferret out other startup offenders.

Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide which programs get dumped at startup. As a general guide, don’t disable stuff that works in the background, comes from a component maker like Intel or your PC manufacturer, or is a mission critical app such as antivirus.


Windows 7

The first thing a Windows 7 user should do is click Start > Startup and see what’s there. This folder houses all the third-party apps that activate at start-up. If you see anything you don’t want right-click it and select Delete.

Another option is to get a window similar to what Windows 8.1 users see via the Windows System Configuration Utility. The name alone sounds scary, so if you are not comfortable with this step, don’t sweat it. Just download a program like the ones mentioned at the top of this post to clean up your PC for you.

For those brave enough to sally forth, click Start > Run and type msconfig in the box that appears. Once the configuration utility starts up look under the Startup tab.

Unlike Windows 8.1, Windows 7’s approach is far less friendly to look at and doesn’t include any helpful startup impact information. This is really a window for more advanced users. However, if you find programs like Google Chrome, QuickTime, and Skype in the list, feel free to disable those by unchecking the box next to their names.

One thing I would not recommend disabling if you often connect an Apple device with your PC is Apple’s “iTunes Helper.” If you disable this, it won’t turn on by itself and can lead to hassles every time you want to sync a device with iTunes.

It can take a few minutes to figure out which programs should be disabled on your PC. If you take the time,  the benefit of shaving those few extra seconds off your boot time is worth it.