Utilising Task Manager

Although crashes and freezes are less common under Windows XP than they were before, they are by no means absent. There can be few computer users who have never experienced odd program behaviour.

So what can be done when an application freezes or the computer slows to a crawl? All is not lost – Windows includes its own tools for dealing with the problem. They’re not always easy to use, however, which is where we come in. Over the next three pages, we’ll explain how to use the Windows Task Manager to diagnose faults and fix problems.

I can’t do anything
When the PC comes to a halt, first make sure it’s not just a momentary freeze – sometimes the PC needs to take a couple of seconds to complete a task, particularly if it’s an old computer or lots of programs are running.

Look for signs of life – press the Caps lock or Num lock keys on the keyboard and see if the appropriate light switches on – this will show whether the PC is still responding. Also, see if the hard disk, CD or floppy disk lights found on the front of some PCs are flashing.

There are several levels of crash – perhaps a single program has frozen, or maybe several have stopped responding. If it’s possible to get to other running programs, do so and save any outstanding work before continuing. Log out of any websites if necessary – such as online banks – and send any unfinished emails.

Programs may pause, freeze or crash for many reasons. Sometimes it’s because they’ve been badly created – often, a program has several thousand lines of programming language behind it and even with the most careful checking, it’s possible for errors to slip through.

Otherwise, it might be because the program is conflicting with another program, or with Windows. Because of the vast number of programs around, it’s impossible to predict such clashes.

Remember that if this happens more than once to the same program, it may indicate an underlying problem. See if a newly installed program may be causing the problem, or try using System Restore if problems continue.

If a single program keeps freezing, try running it on its own, without any other applications also running. If it runs better this way, slowly increase the number of applications running at once, until the problem reoccurs. That way, it’s possible to diagnose which two programs are in conflict.

For temporary relief from crashes, however, read on.