I think mainly you want to turn of the automatic updates. Each program has its own settings.
For Windows, go to Start/Control Panel/Automatic Updates.
For Norton, go to Norton Internet Security/Settings to turn off the Automatic LiveUpdate. You will also want to go into Tasks & Scans/Configure a Scan/Schedule Full System Scan and turn off any automatic schedule virus scan.
My computer came loaded with a couple Sonic programs, which have their own updater. Since I quit using Sonic, I removed the Updater program with Control Panel/Add Remove Programs.
If you have questions about background processes that you see running in Task Manager, Google the full program name to get more information.
Hope this is helpful.