Sometimes though, it is actually a good idea to do this and to limit the number of tasks that the computer has to do. Trying to do too much at once can be counter productive. The computer gets bogged down and everything gets slower. It may also cause problems.
Sometimes you don't know that the computer is getting bogged down and all you see is that it is very slow for some reason. You wonder why the computer isn't working very well today and you click something again or try to do some other task, which simply adds to the workload and makes the computer even slower. It doesn't help.
If you have ever tried to write software that can perform two or more tasks at once you will have an idea of how hard it is. Does one task rely on the other? How do you prevent the user from starting the other task before the current one is finished? Do you need to wait for the results of one task before proceeding to the next? And so on. I've done a little programming and I can tell you it's hard. It must be extremely hard with an operating system that performs countless functions and consists of millions of lines of programming.
I wonder whether the programmers always get it right and in some circumstances I sit back, wait and give my computer time to do whatever task it is doing. A good example of this is is with operating system updates.
You download the latest service pack, patch or update to the OS and then restart the system. When you get back to the desktop it is tempting to start clicking on things to quickly get back to work, such as starting a web browser, word processor, email or whatever.
This is not a good idea and the speed at which the desktop appears is misleading. It is displayed early in the boot process to give the impression that the computer starts quickly, but really it is only part of the way through all the tasks it has to perform. After an OS update it often has a lot of tasks to perform after the first boot and it is best to wait until the system has settled down and done all that it needs to do before you start using the computer. It can sometimes take five minutes or more.
How do you know that the computer is busy, apart from it slowing down? On the Apple Mac I use an old program called Menu Meters. It is not the best utility of its type and iStat Menus has more features, but Menu Meters is simpler and uses fewer resources, which is better for my ageing MacBook that's struggling to run the latest software.
Both of these programs add items to the menu bar at the top of the screen on the Mac and they display processor activity, disk activity, upload and download speeds and so on. Take a look at the screen shot as I was shutting down one day. The red and green triangles show that the disk was being read and written to and the CPU bars (two because it's dual-core), are right up near the top.
Clearly OS X was very busy performing some housekeeping task. I could have clicked Shut Down to force the Mac to power off, but I waited until the disk and processor activity stopped before clicking it. Was it necessary to wait? I don't know, but I do wonder why some people always have lots of
problems with their computer and whether this sort of thing has anything to do with it. I reckon that a little patience pays off. Just wait until it has finished whatever it is doing.
There are utilities for Windows that perform a similar task and on Vista and 7 it is useful to install some desktop gadgets. There are some good ones to choose from and I like the gadgets at AddGadget.com. There are some great ones, such as All CPU Meter, Network Meter, and Drives Meter. Another one to try is System Monitor at Build A Gadget.
Menu Meters and desktop gadgets can explain why your computer has slowed down to a crawl and it is may be busy performing some essential housekeeping task, but it could also mean that a program has a bug or has crashed, or is poorly written too. Load a few web pages with Flash content and watch the CPU meter rise, particularly on the Mac. When CPU and disk activity rises when it shouldn't, such as after several hours working on your computer, it may be time for a reboot.
These gadgets are a bit technical, but I am convinced that keeping an eye on the system and giving it time to finish tasks before starting another pays off with greater reliability and fewer problems. It is interesting to watch these meters go crazy when you boot up first thing in a morning or after an OS update. You may be surprised at the amount of activity that goes on and I think it's best to let it finish.
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