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Sometimes when you're working at your computer, especially if you have many programs open, the screen will freeze and you will be unable to use your mouse. Don't be alarmed—it's not the same as a crash when your computer reboots itself, or worse, when your hard drive fails.
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If it first happened after installing new software, this could be your problem. The solution would be to uninstall it—though that's a bit drastic if it's software you really need.
The problem may have been caused by a virus, so run a scan from your anti-virus software. If it's not up to date you'll need to update it first. Out of date virus protection is useless. (All virus protection programs have the capacity for automatic upgrades, usually on a daily basis. If you don't go on the Web every day those automatic updates will be done whenever you do. It's up to you to make sure the the automatic option is set.)
Next run your Spyware/Adware protection. This sort of unwelcome tenant on your hard drive can sometimes cause a freeze. I wrote about them under the heading Critters in Your Computer. Click on the link to read it.
The fact is that even a professional will have trouble finding out exactly what causes your computer to freeze but there are a few simple things you can do by yourself to resolve the problem—temporarily, at least.
When my laptop freezes I just sit there for a minute or two to see if the problem will go away. Often it does. I'm not the world's most patient person so I don't wait for too long.
After a couple of minutes I give the computer what used to be called "the three finger salute". That is, hold down the Ctrl and Alt keys and while you're doing that, tap Del. This activates the Windows Task Manager which in turn gives you the option of closing a program which is "Not Responding".
My experience has been that IF the program closes you will be able to continue working with the others. If you re-start the offending program it will probably behave itself.
If this doesn't work, or if it locks up again, it's probably best to re-boot the computer.
And if it's got a really bad case of the collywobbles and won't even let you re-boot, as a last resort you'll have to turn off the power before re-booting.