Minimal tasks that must be left running

I know this amounts to a FAQ, but I've lost track of the
answer. Various tasks are offered as candidates in a
Ctr-Alt-Del situation, for closing. There is a bare minimum
of these tasks that must be left running. Which are they?
(The subgurus among us have no idea what most of the tasks
are for, let alone which are essential.) Thanks for the
patience of those who have answered this question in the
past.

"Anthony Buckland" wrote in message
...
I know this amounts to a FAQ, but I've lost track of the
answer. Various tasks are offered as candidates in a
Ctr-Alt-Del situation, for closing. There is a bare minimum
of these tasks that must be left running. Which are they?
(The subgurus among us have no idea what most of the tasks
are for, let alone which are essential.) Thanks for the
patience of those who have answered this question in the
past.



you can shut down all tasks except explorer

Explorer is the only one that must stay running in order to function.
However, I suggest that using this End Task panel to close most programs
should only be done in cases of emergency. This kind of "forced" exit
can cause programs to leave garbage behind, screw up databases if
they're database driven, etc. Also, when a program is "Not Responding",
it may simply be really, really busy, and patience may reward you with a
successful finish.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

"Anthony Buckland" wrote in message
...
I know this amounts to a FAQ, but I've lost track of the
answer. Various tasks are offered as candidates in a
Ctr-Alt-Del situation, for closing. There is a bare minimum
of these tasks that must be left running. Which are they?
(The subgurus among us have no idea what most of the tasks
are for, let alone which are essential.) Thanks for the
patience of those who have answered this question in the
past.