MOUSE CLIX (for 10/29/00 Yardley News)

The Computer that came in from the Cold

By Hobie Lunin

Well, not just cold, freezing, as a matter of FAQ (Frequently Asked Question).

It is a warm day in July. I am teaching at the Falls Senior Center and the phone rings. "It's freezing, it's freezing!" are the first words I hear. I recognize the voice and the problem. The computer refuses to do anything. The mouse and the keyboard are lifeless, "frozen" we say. "No problem", I say into the phone, and I hear a sigh of relief.

Windows 95 and 98 are notorious for locking up or crashing, as others may call it. Sometimes there is an obvious reason (you may have given the computer too many things to do at once) and sometimes there is no clue. Here is a quote from the famous computer expert, Peter Norton, "Another way in which Windows fails to fully protect one application from another is that it uses a message-passing model that enables one ill-behaved program to stop all the rest from working. If such a program does not properly receive and respond to messages sent to it by the operating system, that program is likely to 'hang' or 'freeze'. Windows 3.1, 95 and 98 partially solves this problem by making it relatively easy to use a local reboot (Ctrl+Alt+Delete) to force that errant program to quit."

When "freezing" or "lock-up" occurs, the first thing you can try, as Mr. Norton suggests, is to press Control and Alt at the same time with one hand. And with the other, just tap on delete (the Del key is just above the arrows to the right of the main section of the keyboard). This will bring up a list of open programs with the guilty party listed at the top. Click on Reactivate if it is available and not grayed out or click on End Task. In a few moments you will be asked again whether to End Task and you will OK it. This often will bring your computer back to life. If not, press Control, Alt and Del at the same time and the computer will reboot. Follow all the instructions and it will unlock your computer. It will want to ScanDisk for you and you can let it do that.

It is possible that when you hit Alt, Control and Delete the second time, nothing will happen. In this instance hold those three keys down, briefly, at the same time several more times, looking for signs on the screen that it is rebooting (starting up). If it still resists, you should push the Reset button on your CPU (the tower that you got with your monitor.) It will be a small button that may not be labeled and may have a // symbol next to it. Push and hold it in (off) for at least 5 seconds, then release. If you see no reset button, check the handbook that came with your computer to see if it indicates where it is. Often the manufacturer suggests that you just push and hold the on/off button for several seconds and then release. Then the computer will reboot. It may boot directly to your desktop where you can begin doing things as usual except for the fact that whatever you were working on will be missing and you will have to start again.

Or, it may want to start in Safe Mode. If it does, you will see that the screen looks weird and magnified. Just keep following the chain of the start up by tapping on Enter until you see your desktop, which will be looking very strange, and in disarray. When the Hard Drive has stopped working (look to see that the light has stopped flashing), click on the Start button and then Shut Down. Turn it off, when it says it's OK to do that. Wait a while (go have a cup of coffee). Start the computer again. When you get to the desktop rearrange your icons, as they will have moved. Then everything will be back to normal. (Be careful with the coffee, it can ruin your keyboard.)

I usually avoid Safe Mode, by tapping the up arrow button on my keyboard, in the Safe Start program to the top choice (Normal Mode) before giving the OK. This should bring your computer back to life. When the computer decides to do ScanDisk, I usually tap the "x" key on the keyboard to exit from that to save some time. I will ScanDisk at another regularly scheduled time. (More about ScanDisk in another article.) Anything you may have been working on when the freeze up began may have disappeared.

Is there anything you can do to avoid freeze-ups? Here are a few of my suggestions. For those of you who do not turn off your computers but simply either leave them On or on Standby, it is best that you reboot your computer every so often. (Turn it completely off and wait 45 minutes before turning it back on.) Rebooting updates your registry, which can become out of sorts, so to speak, without an occasional reboot.

Another thing is to avoid starting another application or program when the hard drive is still working with the previous one (you can see the hard drive light flashing on the computer tower.) I realize it is often not possible to be patient but this may avoid the problem. Be sure you have enough memory for what you are trying to do. If you frequently get the message that there is not enough memory, when you are working, it is time for a memory upgrade. If you have a beginner using the computer, let them know about the freeze-up problem, so that they should not click too many buttons impatiently.

Your computer will probably freeze-up again no matter how careful you are, but now that you know how to thaw it out, you can solve the problem with some confidence. Future revisions of Windows may completely eliminate the problem.