Lesson 9: when the X won't work
A frozen program doesn't hear the close button. Here's what to do instead.
- Wait ten seconds. Freezing and thinking look the same. Give it a moment before you decide.
- Click the X once. Not ten times. Ten clicks queue ten requests, and a frozen program hears none of them.
- Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc together. Task Manager opens: a small window listing everything that's running.
- Find the frozen program's name in the list. It's usually at the top, marked “Not responding.”
- Click it once, then click “End task” in the bottom right corner.
- Windows asks if you're sure. Say yes. The window closes.
- Whatever you didn't save is gone. That's the price. Everything else on your screen stays open.
If Ctrl + Shift + Esc does nothing: press Ctrl + Alt + Delete and choose Task Manager from the blue screen.
Shorter route, same result: click the frozen window once and press Alt + F4. If Windows says it isn't responding, choose “End now.”
The X asks a program to close. Task Manager doesn't ask.
One question at a time, in plain steps: [email protected]