control Alt Delete to close windows

[glenrose]

hi:

running win98se on a compaq deskpro p3 700 but does not respond to control alt delete to close down a frozen application.

nothing happens, have to unplug the machine.

is there a setting that will allow this option, cannot see anything is the BIOS, is it a Win98 setting.

thanks

[Doobie]

nothing in BIOS for that. Is it a certain program or any program?

[glenrose]

hi:

on any program or application that presents a problem.


thanks

[PMich]

Not that this really helps solve the problem, but you can just hold down the power button for about 5-10 seconds and the computer should power down. Not a solution but a lot easier (and maybe safer?) than unplugging all the time.

As I understand it, you have multiple programs that this happens with? If so, it sounds like a windows problem. Easiest way to try to resolve it may be to reinstall over the top of the existing OS.

[RenegadeKing]

Control alt delete not working isn't your problem, it's that programs are crashing in the first place. That shouldn't be happening.

Does control alt delete work when the computer is not frozen? If so, how many programs does it list?

[GaryRouth]

If the system hangs seem random, and occur with no error messages at all - this might point to a hardware problem.

To rule out heat, run the system with the case open & look to see if the fans are spinning normally. Enter Bios Setup during a reboot, and check the system temperatures in the "Environment" or "PC Health" (etc) menus.

To rule out a Bios Setting that's been reset accidentally (by a power surge - or virus) run a full system virus check, and also enter Bios Setup and try the "Load Defaults and Exit" option. This will restore "Fail-Safe" defaults. You can tune for performance later. [If you have your motherboard manual handy, use that as a guide to the Bios Settings. If you don't have one, it should be available on the hp/compaq websites]

You might also inspect the board and power supply closely - for any signs of overheat damage. You could try another power supply, too - but you'd have to make sure it's compatible with that model Compaq. Problematic power supplies can cause system hangs.

See if any of this turns up a suspect
. . . Gary

[glenrose]

Point of correction:

The control alt delete works fine as long as the processer is not frozen, my concern is and this only occurs ramdomaly and on several kids games ( basic games), when the machine appears to be frozen then the control alt option will not appear.

Other machines, this is not an issue, the control alt delete option works and you can close the program and carry on.

Is this an compaq issue.

thanks again

[RenegadeKing]

It probably is a hardware problem. You should follow the instructions GaryRouth gave you and report back with any results.

[glc]

It may be the games - old DOS games that are trying to write to the hardware, Windows hates this. It's best to run DOS games in DOS mode, not in a DOS window.

[GaryRouth]

Are they DOS games? If so, try glc's suggestion & let us know if that fixes it.

If they are kid's "edutainment" titles that run from CDs, check if DMA is enabled on the CD-drive and disable it. Or try a different CD drive if you have one handy or can borrow one (this is somewhat rare, but a faulty CD-drive might be enough to freeze the system). Most of these titles are dependent on either QuickTime or Direct X, too - you could uninstall/reinstall QT and DX, then uninstall/reinstall the games causing the freezes & see if that helps. And one last thing: is this a CDRW drive & is Nero installed? Sometimes the special optical drive driver that Nero installs can bump up against an older program.
(you can sometimes resolve this by trying a different version/update of Nero)

If nothing at all helps on the software side, try the heat/ps/bios angles. . .
. . . Gary