Considering the Effects of Too Many Running Applications

Some people look at the applications listed on the Taskbar and think that there’s nothing else running on the machine. It’s true that you started all the applications on the Taskbar, but the applications that appear in the Notification Area also count toward the resource usage on your system, as do services that run in the background. Every application that starts on the machine, including Windows itself, uses resources. An executing application is a process, and you can easily monitor them using the Task Manager. To access this information, right-click the Taskbar and choose Task Manager from the context menu. You’ll see a listing of running processes such as the one shown in Figure 2.1 on the Processes tab. (The “Using Task Manager” section of Chapter 7 describes this utility in greater detail.) Even though the machine only has four applications running on the Taskbar and another four in the Notification Area, Task Manager shows that 21 processes are running on the machine. When too many applications ask for the limited supply of system resources, you see a decrease in system performance. However, system performance is just the tip of the iceberg. Overextending resource use can also cause other problems such as:

1 Lost data

2 Overheating

3 User inefficiency

FIGURE 2.1 Task Manager shows a list of the visible processes running on your machine.

Whenever conditions starve an application for memory or other resources, it tends to experience errors. These errors can cause something as simple as slow performance or a serious crash. Application crashes often result in lost data. The data is in memory as you work with it. When this memory suddenly becomes unavailable due to the application crash, the data is lost — it isn’t stored on the hard drive where you could easily access it again.

You might find it interesting that running too many applications can cause a system to overheat or at least experience the life-reducing effects of heat, but the problem is the result of a simple fact. As you ask the machine to perform more work, it draws more power. The system forces resting transistors into work mode, which ultimately increases the heat produced by these components. Some vendors skimp on the number of fans included with their systems because fans are noisy, attract dirt, and aren’t a sales point on their brochure. Ultimately, as the fans age and become less efficient, the system overheats, causing damage to system components and eventual system failure.

It’s possible to measure the heat effects of running applications when your system includes one or more heat sensors and you install an appropriate monitoring application, such as Motherboard Monitor (http://mbm.livewiredev.com/) shown in Figure 2.2. This application also monitors fan speed, power supply voltages, and other essentials. A motherboard that includes a temperature sensor also includes the software required to use it. Distractions and a slow interface are the bane of user productivity. The more applications that run on a system, the slower the system responds and the more distractions the user encounters. Consequently, not only the system experiences a loss of speed, but the user as well.

FIGURE 2.2 Asking the machine to perform more work increases system heat