Emergency Shutdown of Windows

Chances are that if you use Windows you have had to just shut down your machine when it become instable.  I am not trying to pick on Windows.  Most of the time it isn’t Windows fault, it is fairly common for poorly written applications and drivers cause the OS to malfunction.  This isn’t anything specific to Windows, if you run a buggy application on any OS, you will get the same type of results. 

You can shut down the computer by simply pressing the power button on the computer, but there is a way for you to shut down the computer that’s less harmful to the operating system. To do it:

1. Press [Ctrl][Alt][Delete] to display the Windows Security dialog box.
2. Hold down the [Ctrl] key and click the Shut Down button.
3. Click OK to confirm that you want to perform an emergency shutdown of the computer.

Be aware that when you perform an emergency shutdown, Windows doesn’t prompt you to save any open documents. To avoid losing your work, make sure that you save anything you’re currently working on (if possible) before performing an emergency shutdown.