Frozen XP Laptops - WHAT DO I DO???????

[cgannon64]

My laptop upstairs has been frozen for about 10 minutes, and nothing it saving it. It has XP, so CTRL-ALT-DELETE is useless, because you have to go through a menu that freezes to end the program. Unplugging is pointless, because it just switches to the battery. And I don't want to take out the battery, 1) because it might totally mess it up and 2) because I need a screwdriver and 3) because I can't even tell which one is the battery!!!!

WHAT CAN I DO??? Unplug it and let the battery run out???

 

[ainwood]

If you use CTRL-ALT-DELETE to initiate a shutdown, it should close the offending program after some time....

Often a lock-up like that is due to explorer.exe failing - which basically stops the OS working. However, it should still respond to the 'shutdown' command.

 

[cgannon64]

Originally posted by ainwood
If you use CTRL-ALT-DELETE to initiate a shutdown, it should close the offending program after some time....

That's what happened. It shut down after about another 10 minutes.

 

[Souron]

on mine there is a swich right by the power input, plus a holdable power button.

 

[Jeratain]

Yeah, usually there's a power button you should be able to hold.

 

[cgannon64]

The power button did nothing.

 

[Grisu]

on my laptop (dell inspiron 8100) I have to press the power-on/off button for about 10 seconds to turn it off immediately (e.g. when it's crashed) , maybe this works for you as well

 

[nihilistic]

XP is actually quite stable. I don't know how CTRL-ALT-DEL can freeze. Anyway, press and hold your power button for like 15 seconds. The laptop should turn off.

 

[Perfection]

Of course if worst comes to worst you can always let the battery drain out

 

[Hawkster]

Lots of laptops have a reset switch -often a very small hole somewhere on the casing (often on the side) into which a pencil point can be pushed to force a reset. Check your manual you may find reference to a reset switch.

 

[Souron]

no, mine has a cut power swich (yes an actual swich, not a reaset button.)