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November 10, 2006
Taking a Program to Task
Dear Larry,
Every so often, my computer just seems to stop working, and
the program I’m using won’t respond to my keystrokes or mouse clicks. What can I
do in this situation short of pulling the plug on the computer?
F. T.
Dear F. T.,
When your computer locks up in this way, it’s usually because
a program is not working properly. Although the computer in general may continue
to work, this one inoperable program makes it appear as if your computer as a
whole has stopped functioning. Windows XP does a pretty good job of keeping
these programs-gone-wild from bringing down the whole machine.
So what causes this problem in the first place? I’ve described
in past columns how computer software programs are nothing more than a long
series of instructions (often numbered in the tens of thousands or more). The
perfect program knows how to respond to any unusual situation that may arise
(including unexpected behavior by you, the computer user, or other programs or
computer hardware that are not functioning the way they should). Sometimes, a
well written program will often know when it has stopped working in a
predictable manner, in which case it will often try to save your work and close
itself gracefully.
But more often than not, a reckless program will simply stop
responding, both to you and to Windows. Sometimes Windows can identify these
programs that seem to have lost their bearings and will give you the option of
having Windows close them rather unceremoniously.
So what are you to do in the case of a program that has
stopped working? The traditional three-fingered computer salute is in order
here. This involves you holding down the Ctrl and Alt keys with your left hand
and tapping the Delete key with your right hand (referred to as hitting
Ctrl+Alt+Delete). This keystroke combination will call up the Windows Task
Manager, which monitors every program that’s running on the computer. (Keep in
mind that if you have unsaved work in the program you’re trying to end, chances
are that new work will be lost.)
Start by clicking the Applications tab in the Windows Task
Manager window. If the program that’s not responding is listed there, click it,
then click the End Task button. If the program is particularly stubborn, you may
have to do this multiple times or simply have patience until Windows can manage
to shut down the program.
If the program you’re trying to end is not listed as an
Application, it means it’s probably running as a Windows “Process.” In this
case, you’ll have to click the Processes tab to find it. Once you do that, I
suggest you click on the words “Image Name” in order to sort the Processes in
alphabetical order. Then scroll through the list until you think you can
identify the right program to end. Choose wisely—else you may make a bad
situation even worse!
In the worst case, you might have to force your computer to
power off if Windows itself has stopped responding. If you can’t get Windows to
shut down or restart, you can always force your computer to power off (as a last
resort) by pushing in the computer’s power button and holding it in for ten
seconds.
This is Larry Schneider, logging off.
