How do you identify and disable unnecessary background applications?

To identify and disable unnecessary background applications: 1. Use Task Manager (Windows) or Activity Monitor (Mac) to view running processes and their resource usage. End tasks or quit processes that are unnecessary. 2. Manage startup programs: In Task Manager (Windows) or System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Items (Mac), disable startup programs you don't need at boot. 3. Check System Preferences or Settings for built-in options to manage background apps and services. 4. Consider using third-party utilities for efficient management of background applications and system optimization. 5. Regularly review and uninstall unused applications to free up system resources and reduce background processes.

As part of the identification process, it is critical to make sure you have correctly identified the background process, and which applications it is related to. Some processes can have fairly vague names, like ‘FileMonitor’, without really showing what it is related to. In Task manager you can also go right click on tasks and select ‘Open File Location’, so you can see where it is located, which may give more idea of what it is associated with. Always be especially critical of processes that are running out of generic locations, or from folders you do not recognize. However, do be aware that they may be part of an extended package to support another application. So you may need to dig a little deeper to confirm what it is.

In the Task Manager or Activity Monitor, you can see how much CPU, memory, and disk resources each application is using. If an application is using a lot of resources but isn’t necessary for your work, it might be a good candidate to disable.

If an application is running and you want to stop it, you can end the process directly from the Task Manager or Activity Monitor. Be careful with this, as ending some processes could cause your system to become unstable.

There are also several third-party tools that can extend the functionality of resource monitor. One of the most valuable aspects of them is longer term statistics gathering. The system based tools can give current, or limited history, statistics about background apps. Sometimes it is helpful to have prolonged monitoring, which may help catch applications that start additional background tasks, or when background tasks conflict and start competing for resources. This ability to place the system back into a real-world use case, and be able to pull information at a later date, can be invaluable to troubleshooting and trying to find rogue applications.

Both Windows and MacOS have built-in tools for system optimization. On Windows, you can use Disk Cleanup and Defragment and Optimize Drives. On MacOS, you can use First Aid in Disk Utility.

Another possible recommendation is trying to keep a clean system, that is not under production use. This can be valuable for side-by-side comparisons to help try to find inconsistencies. This would also be useful for testing updates, to verify the impact on background applications from patches or upgrades. Finally, it should go without saying, limiting production machine changes to authorized staff and limit accounts on the system from being able to start and setup background applications. Users should not have admin right on their system that can install unwanted background apps. Even on servers, IT staff accounts should not have admin privileges on their daily accounts, and any upgrades or changes should go through change management.

Regularly update your software, as updates often include performance improvements. Uninstall applications that you no longer use. Use antivirus software to scan for malware that might be slowing down your system.