Computer Freeze Up: What To Do

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Surviving Computer Freezes
by Sandy Berger

Unfortunately, a computer is not yet as consistently reliable as a refrigerator or a toaster. A computer can and will misbehave on occasion. I've heard all the laments. My computer just crashed. My computer is frozen. My computer is hung up. No matter what you call it, there is never a good time for a computer to act improperly. Unfortunately, this is a normal part of computing in today's world. You may or may not know what has caused the problem. But in the end, it is the way that you handle the problem that will make all the difference.

Look for the obvious

First be patient. If your computer fails to respond to your keystrokes, it may have a problem. However, the computer could also be busy performing some function which you may not be aware. For instance, your computer may seem to stop when automatically saving a file or when printing something in the background. So give it a minute or two. If it still doesn't respond, look for an obvious problem first. It may sound simplistic, but sometimes the problem is easily found. If your screen is blank, check the power cable. Check to make sure that the power to the house has not gone off. Also, many newer computers have a suspend feature that blanks out the screen in order to save electricity. Press a few keys to see if the computer will come back to life on its own.

If your screen is still on, but your mouse clicks and keystrokes don't elicit any response, try a couple of simple checks first. Make sure that everything is still connected. Perhaps your dog just ran out from under your desk and he or she loosened the keyboard or mouse cable. In many programs, the Escape key, which is marked Esc, will take you back one step. So always try hitting the Escape key a few times before you concede that the computer is truly locked up. If you still get no response and the connections check out okay, it's time to go on to the next step.

The magic key combination

The next step is the magic key combination. Find the keys marked Ctrl, Alt and Del. Press these three keys all at once. This key combination is a remnant of the DOS days of computing. In DOS, pressing these three keys caused the computer to restart or "warm" boot. The Windows operating system uses these three keys in a similar, but slightly different way. If you are using Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me, when you hit the magic key combination you will be presented with a Close Programs box that shows a list of the programs that are currently running. If Windows has found the offending program, it will list the words "not responding" next to the programs name. You can then highlight the name of the errant program, press End Task and return to your computing. (You will lose any data in that program that you have not yet saved.) You also have the option of pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del again to restart your computer. This should be used only after you have tried the other options unsuccessfully.

Windows XP handles the Ctrl+Alt_Del key combination slightly differently. Pressing these keys in Windows XP will bring up a "Windows Task Manager" screen. Click on the Applications tab to see the list of currently running programs as described in the last paragraph. Most average users will not have to be concerned with the information on the other tabs on this screen. Luckily, Windows XP doesn't freeze as much as previous versions of Windows.

Occasionally, even the Close Program Box and/or Windows Task Manager Box freezes or is inoperative. If this happens, your last resort is to restart the computer. If your computer has a restart button, you can press it to restart the computer. If you don't have a reset button, turn off the computer. Wait several minutes then turn it on again. It is important to wait a few minutes to let the hard drive and other components come to a complete stop before restarting the computer. Unfortunately, turning the computer off in this manner will result in your losing the changes that you made to any documents that you were working on since you last saved them.

Losing data

It seems that most computer users learn this lesson the hard way. You must save your work often just in case something goes wrong. You will find that some programs have an AutoSave feature. For instance, if you were working in Word when you were forced to restart your computer, when you turn your computer back on you may see that Word has restarted your document with the label "Recovered". If this happens, you should express your gratitude and immediately name and save the rescued document. While the AutoSave feature can come in handy, don't rely on it. It is always best to save each document yourself as often as you can.

Repairing your hard disk

If you use Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart your computer or you turn the computer off without exiting Windows properly, certain files on your hard disk can be left open or can be damaged. Most versions of Windows when restarted after an improper shut down, will automatically run through a process called Scandisk, which will repair any damaged files. If your computer does not do this automatically, you can initiate this process yourself. See the online help and type in the word Scandisk (one word) for instructions.

If your computer freezes more than a few times a day, you may have a wayward program or a hardware complication that needs troubleshooting. If, however, your computer freezes only on occasion, don't worry about it. It really does happen to everyone.

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