How can windows task manager close frozen program which we cant by clicking on close button?
In: 27
Hitting the close button is like asking someone to get off a ladder. If they’re frozen because they’re scared of heights, they may not respond to you.
Hitting ‘end process’ in Task Manager is like pushing the ladder over to get them off it. It works, but it may have negative consequences for the person on the ladder.
Think of it like a kitchen.
When the program is running, the chef is cooking, dishes and food get moved around. When you close the program normally, the chef cleans up and outs everything back where it’s supposed to be. When you close it with task manager, you just dump the entire mess in the trash and call the kitchen clean.
Properly closing the program ensures that any data is saved properly and any routines running in the background end properly, but when you end the task in task manager, it stops everything right then and there, so there may be incomplete data or it could have been in the middle of a loop, but all of that is just thrown out instead of being allowed to complete.
Imagine you have a faulty vacuumer. The button stopped working.
Pressing the defective off button doesn’t work.
But pulling the plug does.
Imagine you have a faulty vacuumer. The button stopped working.
Pressing the defective off button doesn’t work.
But pulling the plug does.
Lots of good answers here, but I think one piece not explained well is the relationship between the OS and the programs running. The OS, in this case Windows, is considered to be the highest permission level. All the programs running are only allowed to do anything when the OS gives them a turn.
From our perspective, it happens so fast that it seems like the programs are all running at the same time. But the OS is using a “scheduler” to control who gets to run when. It tries to be fair and give all programs a chance to run. The OS keeps a record of all the running programs and goes through the list giving out time to each one to do it’s stuff.
When you close a program, you are asking that program to close itself. When the OS gives it time to run, it will hopefully listen to you and close. But ultimately it’s still allowed to do whatever it wants. You could write a program that has a close button that does nothing, for example. So you’d never be able to close it without OS intervention.
Now when the OS intervenes, sometimes it still tries to convince the program to close itself. Maybe the program didn’t listen to you, but it will listen to the OS. This still allows the program to finish up some job it’s in the middle of before closing. But if that doesn’t work, task manager will eventually take matters into it’s own hands. It will remove the program from its list of programs which the scheduler gives time to run, and then it will free up the memory space that program was using to be used by other programs later. Now it’s like that program just suddenly poofs away.
Lots of good answers here, but I think one piece not explained well is the relationship between the OS and the programs running. The OS, in this case Windows, is considered to be the highest permission level. All the programs running are only allowed to do anything when the OS gives them a turn.
From our perspective, it happens so fast that it seems like the programs are all running at the same time. But the OS is using a “scheduler” to control who gets to run when. It tries to be fair and give all programs a chance to run. The OS keeps a record of all the running programs and goes through the list giving out time to each one to do it’s stuff.
When you close a program, you are asking that program to close itself. When the OS gives it time to run, it will hopefully listen to you and close. But ultimately it’s still allowed to do whatever it wants. You could write a program that has a close button that does nothing, for example. So you’d never be able to close it without OS intervention.
Now when the OS intervenes, sometimes it still tries to convince the program to close itself. Maybe the program didn’t listen to you, but it will listen to the OS. This still allows the program to finish up some job it’s in the middle of before closing. But if that doesn’t work, task manager will eventually take matters into it’s own hands. It will remove the program from its list of programs which the scheduler gives time to run, and then it will free up the memory space that program was using to be used by other programs later. Now it’s like that program just suddenly poofs away.
You’re an employee in an office. You’re super busy. Completely overwhelmed. Every millisecond someone adds a new task to your list. Eventually you stop replying to emails and answering the phone because your task list keeps growing. Your immediate supervisor asks you to stop working and go home for the evening (user clicks the close button). But you don’t listen to him. You’re too busy. Too much to do. So the general manager (task manager) comes by, rips up your task list, slaps you across the face and orders you to stop immediately and go home. So you do.
The task manager has low level access to all processes in the computer and essentially has the authority to bypass a lot of hurdles in your operating system.
You’re an employee in an office. You’re super busy. Completely overwhelmed. Every millisecond someone adds a new task to your list. Eventually you stop replying to emails and answering the phone because your task list keeps growing. Your immediate supervisor asks you to stop working and go home for the evening (user clicks the close button). But you don’t listen to him. You’re too busy. Too much to do. So the general manager (task manager) comes by, rips up your task list, slaps you across the face and orders you to stop immediately and go home. So you do.
The task manager has low level access to all processes in the computer and essentially has the authority to bypass a lot of hurdles in your operating system.
Because it “kills” the process by straight up stopping it no matter what operations it is performing. Clicking the close button meanwhile just tells a program to start a “close” operation, which of course will go nowhere if the program is frozen as it cannot process any more operations until it unfreezes.
When a program is running it has all its pieces layed out in memory.
Pressing the close button tells it politely to pack up and leave
Task Manager will ask politely, and then show up in a bulldozer
Latest Answers