How to Quit a Frozen PC Application

Fish swim, birds fly and software crashes. The program that never chokes has yet to be written. If your screen suffers the dreaded freeze, though, you might be able to escape by keeping your cool and pressing the right keys.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Take a break and get a cup of coffee. Sometimes a program that seems irrevocably frozen is just temporarily stalled.

2. Once you're convinced that the program really is stuck, it's time to attempt a graceful exit. On a Windows PC, press Ctrl+Alt+Delete. In addition, if you're running Windows NT or 2000, click on Task Manager. On a Macintosh, press Command- Option-Escape.

3. In Windows, select the program you want to quit from the Close Program dialog box or Application list box. The program will probably display the words "Not Responding." Choose End Task. On a Mac, click on the Force Quit button in the dialog box.

4. After the program shuts down, save your work in any other open applications, restart your computer, then restart the program.

5. If you can't shut down the program, use the computer's reset button, if it has one. Laptop owners should consult their manuals for finding the reset "paperclip" hole.

Tips & Warnings

• Unplugging the computer from its power source should be only a last resort. It's like stopping your car by driving into a wall.
• Be careful with Ctrl+Alt+ Delete. If you press it twice in succession, your computer will restart without asking you to save your work.

[IsaS]

on 7/31/2007 This article should be updated/rewritten.
It doesn't decribe the use of Task Manager adequately. Nor does it include many of the Operating Systems in use by current PC users.
Inclusion:
Task manager(Processes tab vs. Applications tab, Using CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to launch, End Process vs End Process Tree)
Just a suggestion.

[needingtoknow]

on 7/20/2007 Windows XP Home Edition
My computer hangs and stops responding in Yahoo e-mail, 98% of the time causing me to have to use the task manager to quit the program, which then causes an exiting of Yahoo. The other problem is with the computer's Memory. The Available Physical Memory goes way up and down in MBs constantly no matter what program is open and being used at the time. For instance, the Available Physical Memory will be at the time I check on it in the System Information's System Summary, 101.97 MBs and then in just a few minutes to an hour or so, the memory will be down to 70, 62 , 40 or 34.55 MBs and then I'll check on it again later while using the same program, it might be back up to MBs in the hundreds and a short time later the memory will be down low again. Does this sound like an over heating of the computer and just needs a fan replacement or that the Memory Board is Bad?

[jaybear]

on 6/6/2007 you could try and unplug the pc completly and leave set for 1/2 an hour also.

on 11/22/2005 If you can't seem to get the program away, on ME computers (not sure about the others) you can press Ctrl-Alt-Delete, then instead of selecting the program that is frozen, select Explorer. It should restart your desktop, but not the whole entire computer.