This article offers a solution to a very common problem for regular Windows users: what to do when the PC freezes, stops responding and no longer moves "> In another article we explained how to unlock Windows if the pc freezes or if the computer goes slow. Task manager and solutions.
In some cases, however, the computer stops completely and the CTRL-Shift-ESC key combination does not work, nor does the one that calls the CTRL-ALT-CANC management menu, because the screen appears completely frozen and immobile.
At this point, all you have to do is press the reset button to restart or keep the shutdown button pressed until the energy is interrupted so that the PC can be turned on again.
The solution of the forced restart or shutdown is, however, always extreme and very ineffective.
When you restart a locked pc, you lose all the data not previously saved, therefore, if you are writing a Word document, or you are working on an email or any other program, if you have not saved your work, on restart PC, you have to start over.
This is one of the biggest problems in the history of PCs and Windows certainly hasn't done much to try to solve, or at least alleviate, this problem.
In the worst cases then, when you restart a locked PC, you risk that some files are damaged, you lose information and, if you are very unlucky, Windows may not even restart again (this happens very rarely).
So I want to say that there are still no definitive solutions to this problem, if you do not have a good maintenance of the Windows PC, have one of the best antivirus and do not overload your computer with many open programs, especially when performing delicate operations or important.
The problem of PC freezing can depend on several causes and we can mention some of the most common:
- The exhaustion of memory caused by too many programs open simultaneously;
- The disc full or old;
- The interruption of the video card driver or because of the Explorer.exe process (the one that keeps Windows windows standing);
- svchost process or other type of process that uses 1000% of the CPU, spent due to a virus or malware;
In general, you should always use the task manager, to investigate which process is taking up too much CPU or too much memory.
From the task manager, which always opens by pressing the CTRL-SHIFT-ESC key combination, you can control active processes, programs that start automatically, services and much more.
We saw in another article the guide to the Task manager in Windows 10 .
Using the task manager you can restart explorer.exe if the desktop has frozen.
Running out of memory can only be resolved by adding or changing RAM on the computer.
Theoretically it can also be due to the virtual memory of the paging file (in another article it is described what it is and how to optimize the paging file.
If the disc is full, I refer you to the guide to free up disk space.
Speaking of the disk, it is possible, again from the Task manager, to check if Windows is using the disk too much, for example also due to the excessive use of the paging file (in another article it is described what it is and how to optimize the paging file.
Still using the task manager it is possible to investigate the internal processes of Windows and to analyze Svchost.exe (Host Service) if it uses the CPU at 99% .
If you are forced to keep so many programs open, there is a trick to never occupy the CPU 100%, using an external program such as Process Lasso.
An antivirus scan with a program like Malwarebytes allows you to get rid of any possible infection that can block your PC.
If it happens that the screen remains locked, you can use a combination of keys to restart the video card driver (very useful especially for unlocking games).
To restart the graphics drivers, then press Win + Ctrl + Shift + B on the keyboard (only in Windows 10 and Windows 8 with NVIDIA, AMD and Intel video drivers).
The screen will go black for a split second and then everything will reappear as it was before pressing the keys.
All your current applications and programs will remain open.
So if you lock your PC with a black screen or if it gets stuck in a program or even in a full screen game, try the shortcut Windows-CTRL-Shift-ESC and then also Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open the Task Manager directly .
You can also try pressing Alt + Tab or Win + Tab to try switching applications or the ALT-F4 keys to force the active program to close.
In addition we can mention here a program that manages to unlock a Windows PC even when the task manager fails .
The tool is free and is called AntiFreeze, which is located within the why so slow program that offers a last obstacle to attach to when the computer no longer responds.
Why So Slow has already been mentioned in the article on how to check PC performance if it is slow.
To try Antifreeze, after installing Why So Slow, you must simultaneously press the Alt + Ctrl + WIN + Home keys (for those who do not know where the Home key is, remember that on many keyboards it is located on the right side and is the diagonal arrow which goes to the left) and, at that point, Antifreeze suspends most of the running programs so that they stop consuming resources and taking up memory.
The interface of Antifreeze, rather crude, shows itself as the normal task manager but with the difference that it is not based on the explorer.exe process like all Windows windows but tries to return the PC to a state of activity.
Once the Antifreeze task-manager is open, you can check which program is occupying the entire percentage of memory or CPU and terminate it by clicking on "End Process".
Antifreeze works at the highest priority level of programs and software that run on a PC but lower than "Kernel" files, ie central system files and compared to device drivers.
This software should be useful and work when:
- One or more programs are working at full capacity and are taking up a lot of processor power causing a system crash.
- Too many programs are running at the same time using percentages of processor power.
Alternatively, you can use something simpler though less powerful but always effective at ending programs called Super AltF4, described in another post.
