Have your computer questions answered here! Search the PC Doctor archive or submit a question of your own at info@athollibrary.org
Dear PC Doctor:
Sometimes, when I shut down my computer, I get a message asking if I want to “force” the system to close applications. I’ve already quit all of the applications I had open. What’s going on? Is it safe to force them to close?
Thanks, Kaitlyn
Dear Kaitlyn:
You have quit all of the open applications that you know about! There are usually behind-the-scenes Windows processes running. These can be malware scanners or other programs.
When you get this message, it means that one of the processes is taking too long to close. (Windows itself is ready to shut down.) If you wait a minute, they will probably close. If you do not want to wait, there is usually no harm in clicking ‘yes’ to force the processes to close.
However, if you know you have been working within an application that might still be saving your work, you probably want to wait.
Until next time….Happy Computing!
PC Doctor
Posted: to Athol Library News on Fri, Nov 1, 2013
Updated: Fri, Nov 1, 2013