processes running on my computer

Do you have or could you point me to a book or electronic database that describes all the goofy named things running on a computer? When I do a control-alt-delete and hit the processes tab, this long list of things pops up. From the names or identifiers the average person can’t tell what these things are. Some could be viruses or whatever and I would never know it was a bad thing. I can’t tell the good from the bad or even if I want some of these things running on the computer taking up resources. When an uninstall is run, the programs leave a lot of stuff on your computer and I would like to eliminate all of the program I just uninstalled, but I don’t know how or what to delete.