A picture of a frozen spider web taken this morning – better than looking at the lost work on a frozen computer screen! (photo credit Clive https://www.clivecatton.co.uk/)
You have your morning drink in hand, you have to send some emails before that Zoom call. You sit down at your computer and wiggle the mouse and nothing happens. Or perhaps it was working fine until you moved it – and now the screen is FROZEN, and you cannot “let it go” because you have work to do.
The symptom is common, it happens to lots of people. The causes are many, and potentially hard to pin down. There are thankfully some simple steps you can take to rule out a few things before the laptop ends up in a nearby skip.
First thing you probably did was try the mouse, but the pointer isn’t moving. It could be the mouse that is the problem, check it is plugged in, no wobbly loose plug or dirt in the optics. If it is wireless check the battery and the wireless dongle. If you are using the trackpad, very often there is a button that turns on and off the pad for aiding with typing, but when accidentally pressed it confuses the user into thinking it is broken or crashed.
Press the Windows key (Windows only), did it bring up the start menu? If it did then the computer did not freeze, if not then press [control + alt + delete] together. This should bring up a menu, with an option for task manager and if the computer is just being slow it should be able to do this, however if you have a full computer freeze up it will not. You can use task manager to end a problematic program.
If none of the above works, and your half-finished un-saved work is still blazing away on an unmoving screen, taunting you, then you have no other choice but to force it to restart. Find your power button, press that and keep pressing it until everything shuts down. Wait a minute or two and turn it back on.
You probably want to know why it froze. It is handy to know what to do if it freezes but knowing why will help prevent it in future. A fault on any hardware has a potential to freeze the computer – failing power supply, a bad driver or a virus. Loose fitting components like memory or expansion cards, and worn or fatigued wiring creating short circuits, old liquid spills and overheating all cause freezing. Some of these issues can be addressed and repaired, but if the device has a fault then something needs to be replaced. If the repair is expensive then sometimes a new computer is the best solution.
If you have had your computer freeze up lately, consider that a warning shot across your bow. Check your backup solution (not got a robust offsite backup then call us!). How important is the computer? How old is it? Consider the worst case and plan accordingly. Consider cleaning it of dust – air in a can or the type of hand blower used on camera lenses are great for clearing dust but take extra care you do not do more damage., and check your software and bios are up to date. If you are feeling adventurous then take it apart (warranty permitting) and re-seat all the components.
Make sure to save work often and try to keep incremental versions to stop file corruption – turn on AutoSave in MS365.
Most computers crash once in a while but by following these steps and advice, you can hopefully recover more quickly from a frozen computer, and take some measures to remedy it.
Ben
p.s. If you are using remote viewing software, RDP, Team Viewer etc., then frozen graphics is very likely more to do with the network connection.
I hope you found this article useful but if you feel there is something else you would like to learn more about then please let me know and I will organise for Ben to contact you to discuss it with you. Email me kamila@octagontech.com or call me 01522 797520.
Kamila
