How long should you wait? That depends on the task. Before you decide to end the program, give it a chance to finish whatever it’s doing. If the program is using every bit of resources to handle a different task, it might simply be too busy to communicate with Windows Task Manager. Don’t be too quick on the trigger, however Not Responding doesn’t necessarily mean that an application is irredeemably lost. In that case, you can attempt to shut down the misbehaving program by selecting its entry and clicking End Task. If an application hangs or freezes for any reason, you will see the words Not Responding in this column instead. Most of the time, the entries in this list will read Running. The Applications tab also includes a Status column. Each entry in the Task column consists of descriptive text identical to the text displayed in the program’s title bar.
In Windows Task Manager, the Applications tab lists all running programs that have corresponding taskbar buttons.
Figure 5-9 Windows Task Manager is useful for terminating recalcitrant applications and processes, as well as for monitoring system performance.