I close every window and every icon in the System Tray, then press Ctrl, Alt, Del, but I still see programs that are running in the background. What are they?
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They could be anything. Many programs have modules that lurk in the shadows. To find out what a particular unidentified program is, press Ctrl, Alt, Del to open the Close Program dialog box, then write down the program's name on paper. After you've closed the box, select Start, Find, Files or Folders. In the Named field, enter the name of the program followed by EXE, such as dbserver.exe. In the Look In field, select 'Local hard drives', then click 'Find now'.
Chances are you'll find the file. When you do, the folder it's in should tell you which program put it there. For instance, if the file is in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office, it is probably part of Office.
If a file search doesn't turn up a program, or if it's in a common dumping ground folder like C:\Windows\System, turn programs on and off. Select Start, Run, type Msconfig and press Enter. Click the Startup tab for a list of all programs that load at bootup. Find out what's loading a particular program by unchecking options and rebooting until you can identify it.
Programs you're likely to find in the Close Program dialog box include:
Explorer and Systray. These are basic parts of Windows that should always be up and running.
Find Fast and OSA. These are parts of Microsoft Office 97 (but not of Office 2000). If you don't want them, you can get rid of them by removing Microsoft Find Fast and Office StartUp from the Start, Programs, StartUp menu.
Rnaap. This is part of Windows, which loads when you use Dial-Up Networking and then stays in the memory until you close Windows.
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Introduction | Windows