Windows XP Home Edition: The Missing Manual

When Programs Die

Windows XP itself may be a revolution in stability (at least if you’re used to Windows Me), but that doesn’t mean that programs never crash or freeze. They crash, all right. It’s just that in XP, you rarely have to restart the computer as a result.

When something goes horribly wrong with a program, your primary interest is usually exiting it in order to get on with your life. But when a programs locks up (the cursor moves, but menus and tool palettes don’t respond) or when a dialog box tells you that a program has “failed to respond,” exiting may not be so easy. After all, how do you choose File→Exit if the File menu itself doesn’t open?

As in past versions of Windows, the solution is to invoke the “three-fingered salute”: Ctrl+Alt+Delete. This keystroke summons the Task Manager, a special window shown in Figure 6-2. Its Applications tab provides a list of every open program. Furthermore, the Status column should make clear what you already know—that one of your programs is ignoring you.

As shown in Figure 6-2, shutting down the troublesome program is fairly easy; just click its name and then click the End Task button. (If yet another dialog box appears, telling you that “This program is not responding,” click the End Now button.)

When you jettison a recalcitrant program this way, Windows XP generally shuts down the troublemaker gracefully, even offering you the chance to save unsaved changes to your documents.

Tip

If even this treatment fails to close the program, ...