You can usually find out what a program or file is by finding it on your HD.
Often, the folder name will tell you what program a file belongs to, in
other cases you have to right click the file and, get the properties to
figure out what it does. Proprietary computers often have many strange
programs running in the background, most of which you can live without. A
google search will identify darn near anything.
Use Start/Run/msconfig (Startup) to  turn off these programs. At a minimum,
keep Explorer, systray, scanreg and the power profile entries. Anything
unchecked here can be re-checked later if you decide to keep it.
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Is there a guide, or searchable database somewhere to that list of
undecipherable names for programs?

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