A clean install of windows XP with all the excess crap you don’t need switched off will have about 20 processes running. Bare in mind that lots of programs start processes running behind the scenes even when the program itself is npot open. itunes runs about 3 or 4 all the time, adobe reader runs 2, and God help you if you have Symantec internet security as it has loads of background processes. What you need to do is look at all the things that are running and then decide (possibly with the help of google) if you actually need them. You can use the Service manager from the control panel to disable them or you can have them to run when needed to be on the safe side.