A useful exercise once in a while and especially if you have a computer which isn't behaving well or as it used to is to find out what programs are running.  This will allow you to identify if there are any rogue (adware and spyware for example) programs running, or if there are things running which are of no use to you at all (maybe remnants of a program you have now uninstalled).  You can then delete or check to see if these programs or processes are necessary.

However, Windows has a bad habit of not explaining what is running and keeping it from you.  Even if you open task manager (by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del) and look at the processes (there may well be 60 of them), you will be none the wiser as to what they are or what they do.

There is a free, safe and secure way of checking these.  Simply go to the File Research Center and download their plug-in (works with Internet Explorer or Firefox) which will check each of your running processes against their comprehensive database and will flag up anythng suspicious.  It is a simple superb free service, which you can uninstall when you have used it.  If it does flag up anythng you are unsure about, either Google  it or call Virtual Riders for help on how to deal with it.