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Step 1
Press "CTRL," "ALT" and "DEL" at the same time on your keyboard. This will bring up the Task Manager.
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Step 2
Click on the "Applications" tab. This will list all of the applications currently running on your computer. Under the "Status" column, they should all say "Running." If a program has any other term listed under "Status," it has stopped responding and needs to be shut down. Click on the name of the application and select "End Task" to close the program and free up the system resources it was using.
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Step 3
Click on the "Processes" tab. This will bring up a list of all applications running "in the background" of your computer. These aren't applications like your web browser or a video game, but rather are the processes that make various functions on your computer possible. Under the "Mem Usage" column is a listing of how much of your computer's memory that particular application is using. If an application is using drastically more memory than any other program on the list, there is probably a problem. Click on the name of the application and select "End Task" to close it and free up the system resources it was using.
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Step 4
Click on the "Performance" tab. This will bring up a series of graphs detailing exactly how much of your CPU is being used, how much RAM is being used, and a "Recent History" of both so you can track any changes. These statistics can help you monitor the availability of system resources to your applications.
