I have a little confession. I am slightly obsessed with keeping Windows 7′s running process (when not in use, of course) number below 35. I honestly like to keep it at 30 if you want the truth. I know what your thinking – who cares and why on earth are you worried about how many processes are running on your computer? Well, I like to keep my windows rig running as fast as possible. With as little excess stuff running in the background. If you remember Vista and it’s sometimes excessive 50-60 running processes.
One of the processes that I have permanently stopped is Windows Search. I see no need to have this 3 process feature running in the background scanning and indexing my computer whenever it wants. I know where everything on my computer is located at all times. Therefore I have zero use for these processes. I have also turned off Superfetch for the same reason. I see no difference in the way my computer searches or acts. Except for, I can’t search for files from the start menu anymore. But that does not concern me at all. A few others that I keep off are Windows Defrag, Offline Files, and some others. I do not know why I am so fixated with keeping my process count as low as possible. But I am, it’s my cross to bare.
The Windows Media Network Sharing Service is a process that I love to use. But hate to have turned on.It allows streaming of media all over my house. It also allows “push streaming” to my Xbox 360. But by having this feature turned on. It increases my RAM usage by two fold. I have 8GB’s of RAM installed. With the process off, my usage is at 12% of 8GB. With it turned on my Ram usage is 24%. That is quite a jump just for one process. But it is one feature I use daily, so I keep it on. A necessary evil so to speak.
Do you turn off any of Windows 7′s processes? If so, which ones and why? Or am I alone in trying to keep a supposedly light OS even lighter?
