How do I find out how many programs are running in the background? And then how do I shut off the ones I dont need running? I have a new pc with win xp pro... thanks,
Hold down the alt key and tap the tab key, a window will pop up to show you how many programs you are running. Hold down the ctrl key and the alt key together and tap on the del key, Task Manager will pop up. You can find out how many Processes the computer is running. (A program may consists of more than one processes.)
It is not the quantity of programs running that's important, its the amount of resources (CPU and Memory) that are being utilized. The best way to evaluate this is to check resource utilization during regular trading hours when your charting program, trading platform, browser window, etc. are running and quotes are flying and things are hot and heavy. If these resources are frequently being maxed-out or nearly so, then you have too many programs running. Otherwise, don't worry about it. If you have a new computer its very likely the cpu and installed memory are sufficient to meet your trading needs.
These sites will set you up: http://www.thepcspy.com/read/what_really_slows_windows_down/5 http://www.pcpitstop.com/pcpitstop/ http://users.telenet.be/bluepatchy/miekiemoes/slowcomputer.html
Very true. And given that you are on Windows XP ( and not that memory "hog" called Vista ) I'm sure that you have enough memory resources to operate various software apps.