Hi, I would like to be able to identify exactly which programs are running in the background/foreground when one sees the list in the program window after pressing CTL+ALT+DEL keys one time. The names in this list do not mean anything unless I know which program(s) it applies to. But of course Explorer I recognize but others I do not. This would allow me to know what I can remove to free up system resources. Currently I have the following programs running: Explorer Avconsol Iowatch Systray Ptsnoop Vsstat Vsstat Vshwin32 Webscanx Imgicon Yes, for some reason there are 2 instances of Vsstat. I would like to permanently eliminate things I do not have to have running especially those ones which may or may not be authorized in the first place, for instance in the above list, Webscanx and Ptsnoop look suspicious to me. And why would there be 2 instances of Vsstat running? Thank you for any assistance you can provide. Regards, Suede.

Check out this site...it might help you out: http://www2.whidbey.net/djdenham/Uncheck.htm

altho that site is very helpful, it only specifies which programs are used on start-up. Myself, and it seems suede get annoyed when we are using ME and press CTRL ALT DEL and see all these programs listed there that we have no idea what they do. this is during a normal session, not during start-up.

Explorer= your desktop and windows. Keep it. Avconsol= McAfee, brings up the program to manually scan things. Don't need it, can start the program manually. Iowatch= don't know Systray= the taskbar. Keep it. Ptsnoop= don't know Vsstat= McAfee, in the taskbar icon to change settings. Keep it. Vshwin32= McAfee, scans as you work. Keep it. Webscanx= McAfee, scans your downloads as they download, can remove it and scan the downloads manually. Imgicon= makes the Iomega icon colored instead of grey. Don't need it, and if you see strange blank items on the taskbar, Imgicon causes it.

Here's a link to ptsnoop http://www.httpcity.com/suprqmike2k/ptsnoop.html Here's a link to Iowatch http://www.chemstations.net/archive/messages/125.html

Suede, You must keep the *Systray* and *Explorer. I searched all the other names in your list on my computer and could not find any of them, they must be part of some of your programs you have. Try searching for them on your computer. If you can not find them then it *may* be safe to remove them, be sure to make a backup before removing these files. Post back and let us know the outcome. thebest2u Don

To Everyone, I just wanted to say thank you to all the replies with advise I received here. I will try some of the suggestions and let everyone know what I find out. Once again, thank you for the assistance especially to you Bruce for identifying the program owners of those running applications. Kind Regards, Suede.