Utilising Task Manager

Can you fix it?
First try closing the offending program by clicking on its Close button or right-clicking on its Taskbar icon and selecting Close or Exit.

If there’s still no response, it’s time to get into the Task Manager. This is a part of Windows that keeps track of what programs are running and how they are performing, as well as how many of the computer’s resources each program is using.

It’s not possible to damage a computer using the Task Manager, but you might accidentally end a program, so if you’re having a look through it or following this feature, it is worth saving all work first.

If the mouse is still working, right-click on the task bar and select Task Manager from the menu that appears. Otherwise, hold down Ctrl and Alt and press Delete. For Windows 98 users, a Task Manager will appear when this combination of keys is pressed, but it’s not as powerful as the Windows XP version, as it only allows the closing of programs.

The Windows XP Task Manager has several tabs, three of which are really useful when it comes to fixing a crashed program.

The foremost of these is the Applications tab, which is the first to appear with the Task Manager. It lists the main programs running on the computer, such as Internet Explorer or Microsoft Word. Next to each program in the list is its Status, which should say Running if the computer thinks it’s working normally. If there’s a problem, it changes to Not Responding.

Right-click any of the programs in the list and a menu will appear. The first option is Switch To, which will take you to the main program window. For instance, right-clicking on Internet Explorer and clicking on Switch To will take you to the Internet Explorer window and minimise the Task Manager. The next option, Bring to Front, does the same thing, but leaves the Task Manager window on top.

More useful are the two options at the end – End Task and Go To Process. If a program shows as Not Responding and can’t be closed in the normal way, you may need to terminate it from the Task Manager by right-clicking it and selecting End Task. A window may appear asking for confirmation, if so click on the End Now button.

Doing this will mean that any unsaved data will be lost but if you have saved regularly, the impact should not be too serious.

Sometimes clicking on End Task doesn’t work, because the program in question has crashed and can’t be ended in this way. That’s when the final option, Go To Process, becomes useful. It relates to the next tab, Processes, which we’ll be discussing in a moment.