If you use computers long enough, eventually you will have one hang up while you are using it. Computer hang-ups can be frustrating, causing lost work and delays, and even damaging files. If your computer freezes while you are working on something important, you should take a few steps to determine how bad the problem is and if there is an easy solution.
Check the Drive Light
First, look at the drive activity light on the front of your computer. Sometimes during heavy disk activity, your computer may slow down to the point where it seems to be hung up, but in reality, it's simply trying to clear memory or move files. If the drive activity light is flashing or you hear active drive activity, give your computer a few minutes and see whether it returns to normal performance. If it does not, or if the light remains off or pulses regularly, it could indicate the computer has hung up.
Close the Program
You should also try moving your mouse. If you can move the cursor on the screen, that indicates that most likely a single program has crashed, and not your whole system. You may be able to close the affected program by clicking the "X" in the top-right corner, or right-clicking on the program's icon in the task bar and selecting "Close." You may receive a warning about possible loss of data, but if you can close the hung program without affecting others, you can limit the amount of damage the shutdown can cause.
Task Manager
If you cannot close the program using the mouse, or the mouse is unresponsive, you should try to bring up the Task Manager. Hold down the "Control" and "Alt" keys, and press "Delete." Click the option to start the Task Manager, and it will open with a list of applications currently running on your system. From here, you can select the frozen program and force Windows to shut it down. It may take more than one try, and it may take Windows a few minutes to properly shut down the program, so do not worry if it seems to be unresponsive. If you are not sure which program to shut down, look for entries that include the tag "Not Responding" next to the program name.
Reset
If you cannot bring up the Task Manager, or if you cannot shut down the frozen program, you will have to restart your system. Press the reset button on the front of your PC for a few seconds until your computer reboots. If this does not work, you can reach around to the back of your computer and turn off the power supply, wait 30 seconds for everything to shut down and then turn your computer back on. Resetting or rebooting your computer will return you to a fresh instance of Windows, however, and you will lose any unsaved work you have open.
Tags: your computer, shut down, Task Manager, drive activity, activity light