The wisdom I’ve always heard about Windows computers has been, when a program freezes, press Ctrl + Alt + Delete. The problem is, nobody ever told me what to do after I pressed Ctrl + Alt + Delete, so my computer would just stay frozen. (An internet search probably would have helped me, but every time I thought of it, my computer was frozen.) Eventually, I learned the secret to Ctrl + Alt + Delete, and I’m going to share it with you today.
When your computer freezes, open the Task Manager. The Task Manager is where you can tell Windows to close the frozen program. Where does the Ctrl + Alt + Delete come in? That’s how you get to the Task Manager.
I can’t promise that the task manager will solve 100% of your frozen computer problems, but I find that it usually manages to shut down a program that is not responding.
When your computer is frozen, here’s what to do:
- Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete on your keyboard (all at the same time)*.
- From the menu that pops up, select Task Manager.
- Click on the Applications tab (if you aren’t already on that tab).
- In the column on the left you’ll see a task or program. In the column on the right, you’ll see whether the program is Running, or Not Responding.
- Select the task/program(s) that is not responding.
- Click the End Task button at the bottom of the window.
*You can also right click on the task bar (the bar across the bottom of your screen where the start button is, and select Start Task Manager.
