like how do i know what the names mean w/out looking them up?

and

how do i know what processes i REALLY need running?

and

is their a program like task manger i can download that would be more user friendly from my perspective?

Close a process and if everything continues to be working fine you don't need it...as long as you don't stop an antivirus one or something.

just use google.com using the name.exe or whatever and it will come up with the program assocated with it or if it is associated with malware.

true, but arent their some things that will cause my computer to shut down if i close them?

i had this virus once wich would be called "crss.exe" witch is the same name as a system file, when i closed the wrong one, my computer came up with "beginning dump of physical memory" and then restarted. everything was ok, but if i was doing something like downloaing/converting video, it lost it.

csrssc.exe is malware

csrss.exe is a valid windows file

they are 2 separate files - notice the second c in the malware file.

freeware -

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Security/Security-Related/AnVir-Task-Manager-Free.shtml