Laptop help

[Phishy McFish]

OK. So I got my new 600M Inspiron with the $750 off coupon. I had read posts on other forums where people talked about all the "crap" that they load on there.......they weren't kidding. I think there are like 50 "processes" running when I go to the task manager.....when I have opened ZERO programs.

What's the best way for me (not exactly a PC whiz) to determine which of those I can delete/remove tell it to stop running?

And what's the best way to do this (where do I "stop" them)?

I'd really appreciate the help.