Maximum PC - USA (2022-02)

TROUBLESHOOT FREEZES

There you are, clicking

or typing away and

things suddenly grind to

a halt, the screen loses

focus and the dreaded

“not responding”

message appears.

Step one is to be

patient: if you have lots

of programs running,

then Windows can get in

a temporary jam while

it attempts to juggle

resources. After a short

period, things free

themselves, at which

point, you can save your

file and continue.

But sometimes, the

freeze doesn’t end.

If Windows hasn’t

already invited you to

either close or restart

the program, then try

clicking its red close

button once or twice.

Again, be patient, but

if nothing happens, try

pressing Ctrl + Alt + Del

and wait for the screen

to blank before selecting

Task Manager from the

list of options.

When Task Manager

appears, click More

Details, if it’s visible. Any

non-responsive program

should be highlighted—

from here, you can

attempt to close it by

selecting the process

and clicking the ‘End

task’ button or, if you’d

like to try and recover it,

right-click it and choose

‘Go to details’.

This will take you to

the Details tab, where

processes are listed

with more information

on their status (running

or suspended), the user

who launched them

(typically you, SYSTEM,

or a SERVICE), and a PID

(Process ID).

Right-click the non-

responding thread and

choose ‘Analyze wait

chain’. This will list any

threads that are using or

waiting to use resources

being used elsewhere,

which can result in

the program freezing.

Clicking End Process

here may be enough to

free the program without

crashing it, but be

prepared for the entire

program to close.

Sometimes Task

Manager appears to

have no effect. In these

circumstances, you

may be forced into a

reboot. Before doing

so, attempt to close all

other programs and

processes (including

those running in the

Taskbar Notification

area) by normal means

to minimize the damage

and improve your

chances of avoiding

bigger problems.

if you’re lucky, errors will be found and

repaired, and File Explorer will start

working properly again.

If File Explorer ‘resets’ itself or stops

responding when you right-click an item,

then chances are the problem is with

a third-party app that’s tied itself into

Explorer, for example, by adding items to

the context menu that appears when you

right-click a specific filetype or folder. If

you recently installed a new app, focus on

troubleshooting that with our guide below.

If you can’t easily identify the app

in question, look for a tool that can

temporarily disable all third-party File

Explorer plugins. One such example

is ShellExView (www.nirsoft.net/utils/

shexview.html), which we’ve successfully

tested on Windows 11. Choose the

‘Download ShellExView for x64’ link,

then unzip and run the program. Choose

‘Options > Hide all Microsoft Extensions’

to remove all but those plugins added by

a third party, then you can go through the

list looking for possible culprits. If all else

fails, select all the items in the list, then

press F7 to disable them all.

If the problem goes away, you know it’s

one of these items that’s to blame. Re-

enable them one at a time or in groups until

the problem returns, and then deal with

the offending item by leaving it disabled,

checking for a program update to fix the

issue, or removing the app entirely.

DIG DEEPER

If none of the above techniques

have helped you resolve your

Windows problem, don’t panic.

Start by checking the box on the Tweaking.

com Windows Repair tool, which offers

fixes for a variety of problems. Other

programs offering potential one-click

fixes to many issues include FixWin10

(www.thewindowsclub.com/fixwin-for-

windows-10) and Complete Internet Repair

(www.rizonesoft.com/downloads/).

The art of troubleshooting problems is

not about knowing that problem A is fixed

by solution B but rather understanding

the tools and techniques you need to

find solution B. You’ll not only acquire

the knowledge required to understand

which Windows tools will be of most use

to any specific issue, but you’ll also learn

how to harness the power of the web to

track down step-by-step solutions and

remedies you can apply or adapt to your

own circumstances.

GATHER PERTINENT

INFORMATION

Step one involves diagnosing

and describing the problem in

such a way that you gain the information

you need to go hunting for a solution if one

doesn’t present itself. The best problems

to troubleshoot are those that can be

linked to a specific program, have an

obvious cause, and come with a detailed

error message (including error code and

filename). If you’re lucky enough to get

one of these, note down all the details and

skip to the section on using the web.

Sadly, that’s not always possible—

you might be told that your program

has encountered a problem and had to

close, but nothing else is volunteered.

Your PC might freeze for no apparent

reason or throw up a blue screen error

before restarting. These all indicate an

underlying problem, but where do you go

to find out more information?

Windows records major events,

including warnings and errors, in a

series of logs. To access the relevant

ones, type ‘reliability’ into the Search

box and click ‘View reliability history’ to

open the Reliability Monitor. You’ll see

save our systems!

46 MAXIMU MPC FEB 2022