When I open KDE System Guard or us Top from command it says there are 81, at this time, processes running. This seems like an awful lot to me, it is using up most of my memory too. My performance doesn't seem slow though. I'm not familiar enough with Linux yet to know which ones I can kill.

paste the output... of #top or #ps -aux

without that nobody will be able to contribute...

USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TTY STAT START TIME COMMAND
root 1 0.0 0.0 588 240 ? S Oct21 0:04 init [5]
root 2 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S Oct21 0:00 [migration/0]
root 3 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? SN Oct21 0:00 [ksoftirqd/0]
root 4 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S Oct21 0:00 [migration/1]
root 5 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? SN Oct21 0:00 [ksoftirqd/1]
root 6 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Oct21 0:00 [events/0]
root 7 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Oct21 0:00 [events/1]
root 8 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Oct21 0:01 [kacpid]
root 9 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Oct21 0:00 [kblockd/0]
root 10 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Oct21 0:00 [kblockd/1]
root 11 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S Oct21 0:00 [kirqd]
root 14 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Oct21 0:00 [khelper]
root 15 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S Oct21 0:00 [pdflush]
root 16 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S Oct21 0:00 [pdflush]
root 18 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Oct21 0:00 [aio/0]
root 17 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S Oct21 0:00 [kswapd0]
root 19 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Oct21 0:00 [aio/1]
root 175 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S Oct21 0:00 [kseriod]
root 388 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Oct21 0:00 [reiserfs/0]
root 389 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Oct21 0:00 [reiserfs/1]
root 804 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< Oct21 0:00 [kcopyd]
root 1809 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S Oct21 0:00 [khubd]
root 2370 0.0 0.0 1264 380 ? S Oct21 0:00 /sbin/dhcpcd -H -D -N -t 999999 -h linux eth0
root 2694 0.0 0.0 1412 436 ? S Oct21 0:00 [hwscand]
root 4096 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S Oct21 0:00 [usb-storage]
root 4097 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S Oct21 0:00 [scsi_eh_0]
root 5274 0.0 0.1 1440 600 ? Ss Oct21 0:00 /sbin/syslogd -a /var/lib/ntp/dev/log
root 5279 0.0 0.2 2364 1528 ? Ss Oct21 0:00 /sbin/klogd -c 1 -2
bin 5742 0.0 0.0 1428 500 ? Ss Oct21 0:00 /sbin/portmap
root 5743 0.0 0.1 1592 660 ? Ss Oct21 0:00 /sbin/resmgrd
root 5902 0.0 0.3 4712 1808 ? Ss Oct21 0:00 /usr/sbin/sshd -o PidFile=/var/run/sshd.init.pid
root 6054 0.0 0.3 2996 1644 ? S Oct21 0:00 /usr/sbin/powersaved -d -e /etc/powersave.conf -n -a resmgr -v
lp 6252 0.0 0.6 6352 3184 ? Ss Oct21 0:00 /usr/sbin/cupsd
root 6409 0.0 0.2 4180 1452 ? Ss Oct21 0:00 /usr/lib/postfix/master
postfix 6449 0.0 0.2 4260 1464 ? S Oct21 0:00 qmgr -l -t fifo -u
root 6523 0.0 0.1 42632 792 ? Ss Oct21 0:00 /usr/sbin/nscd
root 6532 0.0 0.1 1404 596 ? Ss Oct21 0:00 /usr/sbin/cron
root 6691 0.0 0.1 2604 692 ? S Oct21 0:00 /opt/kde3/bin/kdm
root 7156 0.0 0.1 1612 612 tty1 Ss+ Oct21 0:00 /sbin/mingetty --noclear tty1
root 7157 0.0 0.1 1612 612 tty2 Ss+ Oct21 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty2
root 7158 0.0 0.1 1612 612 tty3 Ss+ Oct21 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty3
root 7159 0.0 0.1 1612 612 tty4 Ss+ Oct21 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty4
root 7160 0.0 0.1 1612 612 tty5 Ss+ Oct21 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty5
root 7161 0.0 0.1 1612 612 tty6 Ss+ Oct21 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty6
root 7230 0.0 0.1 2108 692 ? S Oct21 0:00 gpg-agent --daemon --no-detach --keep-display /bin/bash /etc/X
root 7382 0.0 0.1 2280 868 ? Ss Oct21 0:00 /usr/sbin/pppd call adsl
root 7388 0.0 0.1 6584 660 ? S< Oct21 0:00 /usr/local/sbin/pppoa3 -m -1 -c -vpi 8 -vci 35
root 7932 2.6 6.8 168664 35256 ? S Oct21 5:46 /usr/X11R6/bin/X -nolisten tcp -br vt7 -auth /var/lib/xdm/auth
root 7933 0.0 0.3 3484 1624 ? S Oct21 0:00 -:0
adam 7964 0.0 0.2 3708 1292 ? S Oct21 0:00 /bin/sh /usr/X11R6/bin/kde
adam 8026 0.0 1.6 21280 8336 ? Ss Oct21 0:00 kdeinit: Running...
adam 8029 0.0 1.6 22156 8520 ? S Oct21 0:00 kdeinit: dcopserver --nosid
adam 8031 0.0 1.9 23960 10040 ? S Oct21 0:00 kdeinit: klauncher
adam 8034 0.0 2.4 26648 12812 ? S Oct21 0:00 kdeinit: kded
adam 8042 0.0 1.1 9220 6148 ? S Oct21 0:00 /opt/kde3/bin/artsd -F 10 -S 4096 -s 5 -m artsmessage -l 3 -f
adam 8044 0.0 3.0 30800 15500 ? S Oct21 0:00 kdeinit: knotify
adam 8045 0.0 0.0 1376 332 ? S Oct21 0:00 kwrapper ksmserver
adam 8047 0.0 2.2 24112 11816 ? S Oct21 0:00 kdeinit: ksmserver
adam 8048 0.0 2.7 26424 14336 ? S Oct21 0:06 kdeinit: kwin -session 117f000002000109282432100000166060000_1
adam 8050 0.0 2.5 25032 13148 ? S Oct21 0:00 kdeinit: kwrited
adam 8053 0.0 2.3 24332 12124 ? S Oct21 0:00 kdeinit: khotkeys
adam 8054 0.0 3.4 28096 18000 ? S Oct21 0:02 kdeinit: kdesktop
adam 8056 0.0 3.4 29216 17820 ? S Oct21 0:09 kdeinit: kicker
adam 8061 0.0 2.6 25752 13828 ? S Oct21 0:01 kdeinit: klipper
adam 8063 0.0 2.5 24808 13144 ? S Oct21 0:01 kpowersave
adam 8064 0.0 2.7 26172 14380 ? S Oct21 0:00 kamix
adam 8069 0.0 2.6 24880 13504 ? S Oct21 0:00 susewatcher -caption SuSE Watcher -icon kinternet.png -miniico
adam 8070 0.0 3.4 31500 17872 ? S Oct21 0:05 suseplugger -caption SUSE Hardware Tool -icon hi22-action-hard
adam 8085 0.0 2.7 26656 14384 ? S Oct21 0:00 kdeinit: kio_uiserver
adam 8093 0.0 2.2 24220 11764 ? S Oct21 0:00 kdeinit: kaccess -session 117f00000200010928640810000005984001
adam 8094 0.0 4.8 34628 25124 ? S Oct21 0:07 kdeinit: konqueror --preload
adam 8095 0.0 2.4 18620 12532 ? S Oct21 0:12 gaim
adam 8098 0.0 0.2 3708 1260 ? S Oct21 0:00 /bin/sh /home/adam/firefox-installer/firefox
adam 8110 0.0 0.2 3712 1268 ? S Oct21 0:00 /bin/sh /home/adam/firefox-installer/run-mozilla.sh /home/adam
adam 8115 3.8 11.6 99520 60204 ? S Oct21 8:11 /home/adam/firefox-installer/firefox-bin
adam 8118 0.0 0.6 6512 3560 ? S Oct21 0:00 /opt/gnome/lib/GConf/2/gconfd-2 9
adam 8815 0.0 1.0 14676 5544 ? S Oct21 0:00 /opt/kde3/bin/kdesud
adam 11365 0.0 1.7 22556 9148 ? S Oct21 0:00 kdeinit: kio_file file /tmp/ksocket-adam/klauncherJkBpic.slave
postfix 16793 0.0 0.2 4224 1408 ? S 00:25 0:00 pickup -l -t fifo -u
adam 17803 1.9 3.2 28840 16668 ? R 00:45 0:01 kdeinit: konsole
adam 17804 0.0 0.3 3864 1700 pts/1 Ss 00:45 0:00 /bin/bash
adam 17849 0.0 0.1 2172 692 pts/1 R+ 00:46 0:00 ps aux

what distro r u using???

anyway u have too many services running on ur system...

like sshd,khelper,cupsd and all other things...

Stop all the services
Please read about the services before disabling them... [make a note ... before u disable them in case something doesnt work ,u can enable them again]

#ls /etc/rc5.d
the command will show all the daemons which are started ... if the file starts with a K [that means it's not started] , if the file starts with S [that means it's started]
So if u wanna stop any service rename the file so that it has a K instead of S as the first letter.



the best option is to get a nice window manager like Fluxbox,openbox , or Icewm
u wont be seeing half of these process KDE starts...like the following .. and ur system will be more responsive and the best part is u can feel the difference...

adam 8031 0.0 1.9 23960 10040 ? S Oct21 0:00 kdeinit: klauncher
adam 8034 0.0 2.4 26648 12812 ? S Oct21 0:00 kdeinit: kded
adam 8042 0.0 1.1 9220 6148 ? S Oct21 0:00 /opt/kde3/bin/artsd -F 10 -S 4096 -s 5 -m artsmessage -l 3 -f
adam 8044 0.0 3.0 30800 15500 ? S Oct21 0:00 kdeinit: knotify
adam 8045 0.0 0.0 1376 332 ? S Oct21 0:00 kwrapper ksmserver
adam 8047 0.0 2.2 24112 11816 ? S Oct21 0:00 kdeinit: ksmserver
adam 8048 0.0 2.7 26424 14336 ? S Oct21 0:06 kdeinit: kwin -session 117f000002000109282432100000166060000_1
adam 8050 0.0 2.5 25032 13148 ? S Oct21 0:00 kdeinit: kwrited
adam 8053 0.0 2.3 24332 12124 ? S Oct21 0:00 kdeinit: khotkeys
adam 8054 0.0 3.4 28096 18000 ? S Oct21 0:02 kdeinit: kdesktop
adam 8056 0.0 3.4 29216 17820 ? S Oct21 0:09 kdeinit: kicker
adam 8061 0.0 2.6 25752 13828 ? S Oct21 0:01 kdeinit: klipper
adam 8063 0.0 2.5 24808 13144 ? S Oct21 0:01 kpowersave
adam 8064 0.0 2.7 26172 14380 ? S Oct21 0:00 kamix

I'm using Suse 9.1, thank you for the help, I will look into those window managers.

this doesn't look that bad to me
don't let kde scare you those kdeinit services aren't a problem -- they make kde applications load and run faster. If you look at CPU cycles that suff eats up you come up with 0.0%
the only stuff you got there using up CPU is -- X-- firefox and konsole !
if your compter isn't choked by kde and you like it (depending on how it's compiled)
older type window manager only environments arent actually faster just more awkward.
and if you use kde apps without kdeinit it takes them a long time to start.
go into kde controll center -> KDE Components -> Service Manager
and there under Startup services you can most likely turn some stuff off
certainly Alarm and KWrite and if you don't use KMilo
cupsd is your print server i bet you need that
cron i bet you don't use that and can turn that off
postfix mail srver are you using that ?

your distro (suse) is kind of bloated but you said it runs good ! so i'd go with that.
if you have the resources some stuff running there like named service cache daemon and
resource manager daemon all might actually make things run better not worse.

Linux is designed to use up all you RAM for speed so don't let that confuse you.
if it's not swapping you got no problems.

a basic idea behind GNU is to design software for speed not size so using up ram is god not bad