We've all seen this happen. When you first buy a Windows PC, it seems to operate like a breeze. Programs open up and run with no difficulty.
Then after several months everything slows up. It becomes so bad that you have to buy a whole new computer. The assumption is there are some background processes that continue to run that prevent the computer from running more quickly. So how can you close all those background processes?
I know about opening the Task Manager. But there are usually so many processes running you can't tell which ones are essential for Windows to operate. I have tried shutting down some processes at random but I almost always get the warning "this is a system process and can't be shut down."
So can we shut down all those background processes so the computer is back to original pristine state and only the processes for the one program you want to run are operating?
Videos
My Googling about how to turn off background apps has yielded this advice:
"To disable background apps in Windows 11, open the Settings app and navigate to the Apps tab. Then, select the app you want to disable, go to Advanced options, and choose "Never" under Background Apps Permissions."
There are like 10 thousand apps in the Apps tab. The thought of selecting every app, one by one, and going through all the rigamarole that is required to turn off background permissions makes me want to hurl myself out a window. It is simply an unthinkable task. (It makes one wonder if this is perhaps by design.)
Is there no other way to accomplish the goal?? Please be my hero and advise. Many thanks.
(Also, even if I could just view a list of what apps are running in the background, that would be helpful.)
Store probably runs for doing automatic update check.
To turn it off, go to Start -> Settings -> Privacy -> Background apps
and set it to Off.
More info in the article: How to Turn On or Off Background Apps in Windows 10.
You might also in this case turn off automatically-applied updates by going to
Settings -> Update & Security -> Advanced options
and
set "Choose how updates are installed",
to "Notify to schedule restart."
For the calculator :
I believe that this Modern app is among those that Windows 10 tends to keep in memory if used once. It probably runs in suspended mode, using very little memory, ready to be launched quickly when called, which is more useful in a tablet than a computer.
Windows might forget about it if you kill it off a few times using the Task Manager before shutting down. If this works, I advise in the future to use a third-party calculator instead of the Modern one, or it will come back.
Disabling the SuperFetch service can prevent applications from starting on their own.
We've found out that with SuperFetch running, some applications are started in the suspended state automatically once or twice an hour, even after you explicitly kill their processes. This happens for Windows Store/Modern UI/Metro apps like Photos, Calculator, Maps, Weather, Time and so on.
How to Disable SuperFetch
From the Command Line
Run this command under Administrator:
sc config sysmain start=disabled
Additionally, stop an already running SuperFetch:
sc stop sysmain
From the UI
- Press Windows+R, type
services.mscand press Enter. - Find SuperFetch in the list, and double-click it to open its properties.
- Set Startup type to Disabled.
(Optional.) Click Stop to stop an already running SuperFetch.
Click OK to save the changes.