THE CALLS WE GET

The VCSCIS Department often receives calls regarding systems that have locked up, frozen or have otherwise become "comatose". In many cases there is an orderly way to shut that system down. In many cases there is not. Here is a quick rundown of things that can happen and things you can do.
 

TYPES OF LOCKUP

On Microsoft Windows systems there are several types of lockups that can occur. In some cases the lockup is temporary. In other cases such as some OS lockups and Hardware lockups, the locked system can only be used again after it is restarted.

Software Lockup: a program (netscape, OPAC or CIRC, MS Word, etc) stops responding to either keyboard or mouse clicks. The mouse still moves but the program is frozen. Start button and other system functions may seem OK or slow.

OS Lockup: The only thing that works is the mouse movement. Clicking on ANYTHING does nothing. BEWARE: this could be the delay portions of Software Lockup and not really OS lockup.

Hard(ware) Lockup: Nothing works. Mouse won't move. Ctr-Alt-Del does nothing, etc.

In *ALL* cases, this is what you do. If one step doesn't work, do the next one until the system is shut down or rebooted. As soon as a step is successful in shutting down or rebooting the machine, DO NOT PROCEED TO LATER STEPS!
 

STEPS TO SHUT DOWN A COMATOSE MACHINE

1. Click the [START] button and do shutdown/restart.
2. Press Ctrl-Alt-Del, wait at least 60 secs for the Task Manager, Click[SHUTDOWN].
3. Press Ctrl-Alt-Del again, wait 30 secs.
4. Press Ctrl-Alt-Del again, wait 30 secs.
5. Press the power button momentarily.
6. Hold the power button down for 30 seconds.
7. Unplug the machine from the wall.

Steps 3 and later are considered "Disorderly Shutdowns" and can severely damage your system's software. Give the Task Manager window plenty of time to come up. Sometimes it won't shutdown the system either even though it comes up. Just proceed on to the next step. In all steps 3 and later, you will probably get the scandisk message when the system comes back up. Select [FIX] and then [SKIP UNDO].
 

OTHER COMMENTS

In some cases when the Task Manager window or the [START] button can be used to shut down, however, the system will lockup on the way down. Just proceed to the next step in the above list since shutdown or restart success was not attained.

Many lockups in a single day may indicate a hardware or software problem. The machine in question will need to be CSRed. Same goes for a machine that gets damaged in a disorderly shutdown.

Special note to Media Specialists: if your library server goes down while your CIRC or PAC stations are accessing it, this can cause system lock. This information courtesy of Janella Kneirim. At some point the ethernet patch cable became unplugged from the back of her CIRC station. This caused the system to lock.

In some cases Java enabled web sites can download applets and Java Script to Netscape. This pseudo programming language, if improperly written, can use up all system resources. This will cause at least software lock but possibly OS lock. Recovery is usually complete and undamaging.

*REMEMBER*: Even if you get your system to come out of its "comatose" condition, it is best to shut all the way down and boot back up. There main be remnant gremlins in there waiting for that important memo or e-mail you have just typed in but haven't saved or send!!! Shutting down and rebooting exterminates many of them.