which processes to keep

why have i got so many svchost.exe running + what are they

 

svchost is a process that runs other smaller processes. They are managed by windows so system level functions. I wouldn't recommend killing them, windows will put them back in anyway. for a guide to what services you can disable in windows XP then look here:
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm
as you can see svchost can be a number of things, ranging from useless to very important. Best thing to do is follow the instructons, do the "safe" set and then tweak from there.

 

long boring

Hello,
It's a long and boring task;however, I'd check every file and identify exactly what is in the registry. Regcleaner is good and here is a link for identifing most file extensions. Good luck.
http://file-extension.info/index.php?searchValue=vbe&Submit2=Search