What should I do if an application I am using locks up?

Assuming you are using Windows 95 or 98, if you have an application that stops responding you may be able to recover. Press the CTRL+ALT+DEL keys once, and a dialog should pop up in a few seconds listing the running programs. The offending program is usually indicated, and you can force it to close by selecting it and clicking the End Task button.

On the other hand, if you received an error message about a General Protection Fault or Illegal Operation (especially one with a blue screen) you will probably need to shut down and restart Windows. Otherwise the error may creep into other running programs, causing a rash of errors.

April 2000

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