You can see what’s currently running on your system by launching the Task Manager by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del. In Windows 98 and Me, you will see a simple list of active applications. Windows XP and 2000 will also list all active processes along with their memory usage and CPU time. Don’t worry if the System Idle process seems to be hogging the CPU; all unused CPU cycles are assigned to this process.

To identify cryptic processes with names like csrss.exe, you can get help on the Internet. There are a number of Web sites that list and identify those names, one of which is AnswersThatWork.com: Task List Programs.

I might also mention, though, that we recently reviewed WinTasks Pro 5. This program will identify processes for you right in line with your process list. It is quite convenient, and the number of other operations you can do with the utility are quite useful.