Windows 10 How do we remove unwanted tasks?

[anotherwindowsuser]

Hi everyone,

I like to watch a DVD at the weekend which is another region so I have to power up my Windows 10 pc to play it as my standalone player wont read it. The computer usually plays without making the cpu fan go noisy however I find windows likes to start pratting about running other tasks which up the cpu usage so much it makes it noisy. I actually just had a hard time just trying to get the task manager to open (it was so busy doing other stuff) and then to take a snipping tool screen shot was also sluggish. Is there any procedure I can to do stop it doing everything under the sun besides my intended task of playing a dvd?

I m more than happy to regularly run updates myself.

I often find Cortana high on priority and resources, is it spying on me?

Thanks in advance

Kind regards,

 

[anotherwindowsuser]

How do I turn this off? I cant se any options?

 

[Neemobeer]

No cortana isn't spying on you, nor is Windows in general. Everything in the task manager is a running process many of which are needed for the computer to function and I would not disable WD scans. These periodically check your system for malware and don't run all the time. The Installer process maybe something installing, updating etc and should not run all the time. The fan will start up automatically as the CPU and other hardware are busier and keeps the computer cool. This is a normal operation and if the computer isn't that powerful will likely come on more as the computer hardware is taxed.

For reference, what is the computer model or post the specs.

 

[monk]

What I did was use programs like O&O Shutup and Windows Privacy Dashboard. They usually come with features to import and export settings, create restore points, or go back to the previous or a factory setting.

Next, I looked at the task scheduler and either disabled or changed the time for certain processes that I thought were not necessary.

Third, I ran the startup aps setting to see if I could disable certain programs that I thought were not needed.

Finally, I ran free benchmarking programs to see how various security software affected the system. For example, I ran Novabench several times with Windows Security running, then ran it several times after installing various free AVs to see differences in performance impact. In any event, one's mileage may vary, and what is fast now might become slow several months later, and vice versa.

 

[anotherwindowsuser]

No cortana isn't spying on you, nor is Windows in general. Everything in the task manager is a running process many of which are needed for the computer to function and I would not disable WD scans. These periodically check your system for malware and don't run all the time. The Installer process maybe something installing, updating etc and should not run all the time. The fan will start up automatically as the CPU and other hardware are busier and keeps the computer cool. This is a normal operation and if the computer isn't that powerful will likely come on more as the computer hardware is taxed.

For reference, what is the computer model or post the specs.

I scarcely use Windows 10 as am pretty much a full time Linux user except for Sunday afternoon on Windows when I like to watch some DVDs that are not in my region. the PC is itself is very quick when it is doing what **I** want it to do. Its got an 8 core processor with 10gb of ram and an SSD storage drive. it boots in like15 seconds. Opens up programs like Edge and websites like Sky News in a few seconds. I only really use it for video editing on account of not having any video editing software to use in Linux and this is rare. Thus, when I actually DO boot Win10 its because I want to play a DVD for another region. Thus it wants to prat about downloading updates. The length of time to install something in windows is ten times that in Linux and when you are trying to watch a film well its annoying to hear the fan get all buzzed up.

 

[anotherwindowsuser]

What I did was use programs like O&O Shutup and Windows Privacy Dashboard. They usually come with features to import and export settings, create restore points, or go back to the previous or a factory setting.

Next, I looked at the task scheduler and either disabled or changed the time for certain processes that I thought were not necessary.

Third, I ran the startup aps setting to see if I could disable certain programs that I thought were not needed.

Finally, I ran free benchmarking programs to see how various security software affected the system. For example, I ran Novabench several times with Windows Security running, then ran it several times after installing various free AVs to see differences in performance impact. In any event, one's mileage may vary, and what is fast now might become slow several months later, and vice versa.

I will look these up, thanks

 

[WindowsPro]

How odd that you claim: "I often find Cortana high on priority and resources, is it spying on me?"
And show a picture where Cortana is paused and uses 0 (ZERO)% of: CPU, Memory, disk and Network...

In my world 0% is nothing... But that is only my opinion..

If you only run Windows 10 at weekends its natural that windows tries to find updates etc.
And you should not disable Windows update if you use the crappy Defender as it downloads it´s updates via Windows update..

 

[anotherwindowsuser]

How odd that you claim: "I often find Cortana high on priority and resources, is it spying on me?"
And show a picture where Cortana is paused and uses 0 (ZERO)% of: CPU, Memory, disk and Network...

In my world 0% is nothing... But that is only my opinion..

If you only run Windows 10 at weekends its natural that windows tries to find updates etc.
And you should not disable Windows update if you use the crappy Defender as it downloads it´s updates via Windows update..

The Cortana app shows very high percentages and only after opening the taskmanager does it promptly go down to a low level within a few seconds, I will make mental note to try and get screenshot ready next time I run windows.

Which software do you use besides Defender?