How to run Sonar exclusively?

I'll post this on the "computers" site also, but wanted to see if anyone can chime in here too.......
 
I've got a brand new computer with Windows 10, i7, 12GB RAM. Running the new Manchester SPLAT. I've noticed upon running Task Manager, there's all sorts of things running in the background, along with Sonar. I've disabled wifi and McAfee, but I still see lots of stuff running in the background.
 
Is there a quick way to tell my computer that the only thing I want running is Sonar (and of course the Windows elements needed to run the computer)?
 
And what would be really cool is to have two different setups in Windows: 1) A setup that runs Sonar only; and 2) A setup that will run my other stuff when I want to use my computer as a computer, not for music production.
 
Thanks so much.
 
~Jeff
 

Kalle is correct.
Windows is composed of many processes, some of which are absolutely necessary and some of which can be disabled. Figuring out which are unnecessary can be complicated and depends on your needs (ie network). 
You can eliminate applications other than Sonar, but the running services are what makes Windows tick. 
I suggest you Google "optimizing WIndows for audio" or maybe visit Blackviper.com to get some idea of where to start.
Latency Monitor can give you an idea of which programs/services are eating your resources.
Unfortunately ,there is no simple answer.

If you are not having problems then the adage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," applies. Much damage can be done to an installation by trying to improve performance, and remarkably little actual improvement is accomplished in most cases. If you want to take the time and effort to understand what you are doing this is a start:
http://www.blackviper.com/
 

Or just simply use a seperate login.

A lot of those Windows optimizations are really from back in the XP days, and many of those are no longer needed or applicable.
 
Windows itself doesn't natively have the ability to switch configurations for one set of background services or started tasks and another.
 
What I did for myself a few years back is to create a little C# program, that allows me to present a list of all background services and started tasks, from which I can create one or more 'Service Profiles' that contain a list of those items that I wish to disable or stop from starting.  I can then process any one of the profiles, and the program marches down the list of items in the profile, and changes their start type or disables them.  A reboot then starts me back up in a configuration that is optimized for my running Sonar.  After finishing my Sonar session, I reload the little program, load up the same profile, and click on a single button to restore all items in that profile to their saved state from prior to when I disabled them.  Then, I reboot and all is back to exactly where it was for my general computing configuration.
 
So, all the program does is manage the creation of profiles, then a given profile can be processed to either disable items, or processed to enable items.  It is quite a simple program, but saves TONS of time for someone who wants to be able to run with multiple service and start items configurations.
 
I can send the programs to anyone who wishes to have them.  There are 2 such programs: Service_Manager and Start_Item_Manager.
 
Bob Bone

On the antivirus - some folks (I do this) add the Sonar and plugin paths to the Exclusion list in the antivirus software, and that way it won't keep trying to scan all the sample files and helps performance.  That way, you don't run a risk of forgetting to turn it back on.
 
Bob Bone