Task Manager.
The applications tab is useful if a program has crashed we can end and tasks that are listed as ‘not responding’
Processes show the software running at present and the resources they are using.
The only process that should be near 100% is the system idle process.
The svchost is running more than once, This is normal as svchost looks after DLL (direct library link) based software, Each instance manages a number of software services.

Performance Tweaks.
The best way to keep your system running satisfactorily is basic maintenance.
1. Defrag hard disks regularly
2. Clean out temporary files periodically
3. Ensure you have up to date anti-virus and anti-spyware utilities running
There are also some more advanced tweaks that can be made.

Advanced Performance Tweaks.
Windows runs a lot of software to make it look pretty, We can remove many of these niceties to improve performance.
Using fewer visual effects can drastically improve performance in some cases but xp will look less impressive.
Processor scheduling allows us to say which should be given CPU priority – Programs of Services
In this context the program is the active window, Services are any minimised programs.
If you multi-task frequently you may want to give priority to background services.
This gives equal CPU time to all running programs rather than giving more to the active window.