PC Troubleshooting Part Two

Processes

It is useful to become familiar with what processes are running in Windows and how much resources they are using. Once you know what processes are running, you might decide to disable the ones that aren't responding, or have frozen. The task of reviewing the running processes is also handy for 'tuning up' the PC, helps with troubleshooting and can also help find evidence of malware (viruses, trojans, etc.).

To see what is running on your computer in Windows, simply right click on an empty part of the task bar and choose Task Manager . [There are also free 3rd party tools, one of which is 'Process Explorer', which is much more revealing than even the current built-in task manager.]

In Task Manager, in the Processes tab, the Apps category will show what user-initiated programs are running and is a convenient way to end a program session that is not responding as shown in the status column. You end processes using the End task button.

The Background processes and Windows processes categories will list all the processes that are running - this includes the many processes that are an essential part of Windows itself. The list will contain entries that are foreign to you at first, but once you become familiar with them (and add them to your journal), you will be able to identify new processes when they appear and be able to question their purpose and validity through research.

Sounds like a scary proposition, but there are a number of Internet resources that can help. One method is to simply search Google for a process by the name of the file to learn more about it. There are various web sites dedicated to explaining the purpose of the processes you'll spot in the list:

• https://www.file.net/process/
• https://www.processlibrary.com/en/directory/a/1/ . 

Keep in mind that you shouldn't trust everything you read in a single site on the internet, so if you're not sure that what you're reading is true, get corroborating evidence from another trusted site.

I divide the items you'll find in your processes list into 4 categories: System processes; Background Utilities; Helper Apps; and Everything Else.

System processes includes the processes that must run in order for Windows to function. They will be regulars on the list - even if there are no other programs running.

Background Utilities include things like your anti-virus software, your graphics card dashboard or your print management software.

Helper apps are the helper processes that assist in loading certain programs faster. These processes are usually optional. An example of a helper app is acrotray.exe, which is a helper app for the Adobe Reader program. All it does is help load Acrobat Reader a bit faster.

Everything Else refers to the processes that you don't recognize, and that you should validate. You may discover processes for the programs you have open, anti-virus or internet security tools, print management tools, password managers, etc. But you should identify what each process is for and decide if it is legitimate. If you misidentify a process and get rid of it by mistake in this task manager, the worst that can happen is you'll have to reboot - the processes will automatically come back. Note that we haven't disabled anything yet, we're just identifying what processes are running and whether they're needed.

Windows Startup

Once we become aware of the processes that are running, the next thing we need to do is explore what processes are being loaded as part of Windows' startup routine. Many of the processes identified in the previous topic are loaded as part of this routine. Although Windows comes with its own startup configuration editor (msconfig or startup apps in Windows 10), I find a 3rd party tool like Autoruns is more user friendly (check the 'Logon' tab in Autoruns).

While going through the list of programs that startup with Windows, as in the previous topic, identify what each one is for and decide if it is legitimate or necessary. Any item you disable will not load in any subsequent Windows startup routine. 

When you edit the startup routine, disabling processes might have adverse consequences if those processes were actually necessary. Do not fear - you can always re-enable any startup process if things go wrong.

Becoming familiar with the running processes and startup routine are an integral part of being aware of how your computer system operates.

Uninstalling

One Windows task that can create more problems than it solves is uninstalling software. In a perfect world, this task would perform well - we expect that when we uninstall a program, everything that was changed by the installation is reversed. In reality, remnants of uninstalled programs often get left behind in the form of user preference files, orphan directories, start menu items, desktop icons and even registry entries. I've even seen examples of programs still in their original folders after an uninstall. It is important to learn how to clean out these remnants to help tune-up the system and is part of the troubleshooting process when you are upgrading to newer versions of the same software.

One of the reasons uninstalls don't go according to plan is because users learn that they can move items around in their Start Menu and the Desktop. When a program installs, it puts specific things (files, icons, shortcuts) into specific locations. During an uninstall, a program will not know you've simply moved its location in the Start Menu, and as a result will not know how to find and remove itself anymore. You may have to manually remove the menu item. Advanced users learn how to scan the registry looking for remnants of uninstalled programs. Look by executable file name, even company name (e.g.: To remove the program 'Ad-Aware', one would look for instances of 'ad-aware'; and 'lavasoft'). Always make backups of your registry before modifying it in any way.

Startup Options

Explore various advanced boot options in Windows. These differ between versions of Windows. See this page for how to access advanced boot options in Windows 10 and 8. For a picture of the Windows 7 menu, go here and look about 2/3 the way down the page.

Preventive Maintenance

Get into the habit of performing basic preventive maintenance on your files. Disk cleanup; error checking (scandisk); defragmentation (except on SSDs); a second error check; virus scan; these should all be part of a regular weekly routine. Or at least monthly.

File Management

The next step in your journey (in my opinion) should be file management. Attend a class or hire a pro to teach you how libraries, folders and files work; discover what file extensions are about; learn what files can and cannot be moved or deleted.

Learning file management will also better prepare you for backups, as it's going to be hard to know what to backup if you don't even know where all of your personal files are.