What mimimum tasks should be running ?

[Nigel Smith]

I have, ti seems, many tasks that are running. However, one of them is
causing a problem.
I have a firewall and I use primediaus and yet I still get the occasional
message that comes up on screen which really is I guess an advert. The
process that runs it is CSRSS.exe and there is anothere SMSS.exe
Both reside in the system folder and if I try to delete the one which causes
the message csrss.exe I get told that it is a system file that needs to be
there and running. Is this true ? What do these programs do? and what are
the minimum tasks that should be running.Looking at the task manager I
currently have 31. this seems alot, sureley they are not all required as
they are all eating memory and my flight sim likes as much as I can get.
Hence I need to know if at least these to I mentioned can be killed without
causing problems.




--
Kind regards

Nigel Smith

[Nicholas]

Visit www.pcpitstop.com and run the performance test.

Actually, turning-off some of Windows services does little good.
Many folks who have "tweaked" Windows by terminating some
of the services often post to this newsgroup wondering "why did
Windows suddenly stop _________ " (you fill in the blank).

Services Guide for Windows XP
http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm

--=20
Nicholas

-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
--------------

"Nigel Smith" > wrote in message:
...

| I have, ti seems, many tasks that are running. However, one of them is
| causing a problem.
| I have a firewall and I use primediaus and yet I still get the =
occasional
| message that comes up on screen which really is I guess an advert. The
| process that runs it is CSRSS.exe and there is anothere SMSS.exe
| Both reside in the system folder and if I try to delete the one which =
causes
| the message csrss.exe I get told that it is a system file that needs =
to be
| there and running. Is this true ? What do these programs do? and what =
are
| the minimum tasks that should be running.Looking at the task manager I
| currently have 31. this seems alot, sureley they are not all required =
as
| they are all eating memory and my flight sim likes as much as I can =
get.
| Hence I need to know if at least these to I mentioned can be killed =
without
| causing problems.
|=20
|=20
|=20
|=20
| --=20
| Kind regards
|=20
| Nigel Smith
|=20
|=20
|

[Nicholas]

How to free up Windows XP system resources=20
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2002010712042239=


--=20
Nicholas

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Nigel Smith wrote:
> I have, ti seems, many tasks that are running. However, one of them is
> causing a problem.
> I have a firewall and I use primediaus and yet I still get the
> occasional message that comes up on screen which really is I guess an
> advert. The process that runs it is CSRSS.exe and there is anothere
> SMSS.exe
> Both reside in the system folder and if I try to delete the one which
> causes the message csrss.exe I get told that it is a system file that
> needs to be there and running. Is this true ? What do these programs
> do? and what are the minimum tasks that should be running.Looking at
> the task manager I currently have 31. this seems alot, sureley they
> are not all required as they are all eating memory and my flight sim
> likes as much as I can get. Hence I need to know if at least these to
> I mentioned can be killed without causing problems.

If you did, somehow delete these files, you would be looking at reinstalling
XP.

CSRSS.EXE
"This is the user-mode portion of the Win32 subsystem (with Win32.sys being
the kernel-mode portion). Csrss stands for client/server run-time subsystem
and is an essential subsystem that must be running at all times. Csrss is
responsible for console windows, creating and/or deleting threads, and some
parts of the 16-bit virtual MS-DOS environment."

SMSS.EXE
"This is the session manager subsystem, which is responsible for starting
the user session. This process is initiated by the system thread and is
responsible for various activities, including launching the Winlogon and
Win32 (Csrss.exe) processes and setting system variables. After it has
launched these processes, it waits for either Winlogon or Csrss to end. If
this happens ""normally,"" the system shuts down. If it happens
unexpectedly, Smss.exe causes the system to stop responding (hang)."

You need to describe what messages you are seeing that are causing the
problem. If these are pop up windows that have the title "Messenger Service"
then you can disable that service. Go to Start/Run and type:
services.msc and press OK. Scroll down to the Messenger service and double
click it. In the Start Up Type section, select Disable. Click the Stop
button to stop the service.

The firewall you are using does not seem to be doing a good job of blocking
these pop ups. I would recommend also enabling the built in XP firewall.

--
Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User
Please reply only to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
Unsolicited e-mail is not answered.

For a better way to access these newsgroups look here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/newsgroups/setup.asp

[Nigel Smith]

Thanks. I have disabled services. Semantic - I think say it is not really
necessary under normal Home use. So I will see what happens. Never even know
about that side of things. Thanks again. We learn something everyday.


"Ronnie Vernon MVP" > wrote in message
...
> Nigel Smith wrote:
> > I have, ti seems, many tasks that are running. However, one of them is
> > causing a problem.
> > I have a firewall and I use primediaus and yet I still get the
> > occasional message that comes up on screen which really is I guess an
> > advert. The process that runs it is CSRSS.exe and there is anothere
> > SMSS.exe
> > Both reside in the system folder and if I try to delete the one which
> > causes the message csrss.exe I get told that it is a system file that
> > needs to be there and running. Is this true ? What do these programs
> > do? and what are the minimum tasks that should be running.Looking at
> > the task manager I currently have 31. this seems alot, sureley they
> > are not all required as they are all eating memory and my flight sim
> > likes as much as I can get. Hence I need to know if at least these to
> > I mentioned can be killed without causing problems.
>
> If you did, somehow delete these files, you would be looking at
reinstalling
> XP.
>
> CSRSS.EXE
> "This is the user-mode portion of the Win32 subsystem (with Win32.sys
being
> the kernel-mode portion). Csrss stands for client/server run-time
subsystem
> and is an essential subsystem that must be running at all times. Csrss is
> responsible for console windows, creating and/or deleting threads, and
some
> parts of the 16-bit virtual MS-DOS environment."
>
> SMSS.EXE
> "This is the session manager subsystem, which is responsible for starting
> the user session. This process is initiated by the system thread and is
> responsible for various activities, including launching the Winlogon and
> Win32 (Csrss.exe) processes and setting system variables. After it has
> launched these processes, it waits for either Winlogon or Csrss to end. If
> this happens ""normally,"" the system shuts down. If it happens
> unexpectedly, Smss.exe causes the system to stop responding (hang)."
>
> You need to describe what messages you are seeing that are causing the
> problem. If these are pop up windows that have the title "Messenger
Service"
> then you can disable that service. Go to Start/Run and type:
> services.msc and press OK. Scroll down to the Messenger service and
double
> click it. In the Start Up Type section, select Disable. Click the Stop
> button to stop the service.
>
> The firewall you are using does not seem to be doing a good job of
blocking
> these pop ups. I would recommend also enabling the built in XP firewall.
>
> --
> Ronnie Vernon
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows Shell/User
> Please reply only to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
> Unsolicited e-mail is not answered.
>
> For a better way to access these newsgroups look here:
> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/newsgroups/setup.asp
>

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Nigel Smith wrote:
> Thanks. I have disabled services. Semantic - I think say it is not
> really necessary under normal Home use. So I will see what happens.
> Never even know about that side of things. Thanks again. We learn
> something everyday.
>
>

Nigel

Let us know if you need more help with this. :)

--
Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User
Please reply only to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
Unsolicited e-mail is not answered.

For a better way to access these newsgroups look here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/newsgroups/setup.asp