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Kill Frozen Programs in Windows With a Shortcut

by Terrence O'Brien on May 4, 2009 at 06:11 AM

Kill Frozen Apps in Windows With a Shortcut
If you're a Windows user, it pretty much goes without saying that you've encountered a frozen program before. Often these jammed apps get labeled with the dreaded "Not Responding" message and simply refuse to do anything, even close. Usually, the only solution is to open the task manager, find the appropriate process, and choose to close it. Fortunately, a quicker and easier way exists.

As the good people at Lifehacker have pointed out (with the aid of HaxAttack), you can create a desktop shortcut that will automatically close any "Not Responding" applications whenever you double-click the shortcut. Here's how to set it up -- it's really easy:
  1. Right click while on your desktop and select "create a new shortcut."
  2. Quotes included, enter the following as the location: taskkill.exe /f /fi "status eq not responding"
That's it. From here, you can change the icon to make it prettier, or even set a shortcut key if double-clicking is too much work for you. When you launch the shortcut, your computer will automatically identify and terminate any programs that the computer deems "Not Responding." This useful little trick works on Windows XP Pro (but not XP Home), all versions of Vista, and Windows 7, so give it a try and see if it doesn't make you feel like a hacker. [From: HaxAttack, Via: Lifehacker]

Tags: frozen, not responding, NotResponding, top, vista, windows, windows 7, windows vista, windows xp, Windows7, WindowsVista, WindowsXp, xp

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