You don't mention what program you were using but here are a couple things 
that can help.

-If the program allows it, set it up to autosave frequently. That in itself 
will use some resources, but at least it miniumizes loss of data.
-Add memory. It reduces the likelihood of overwhelming resources, although I 
get the feeling that sometimes there is something going on that locks up the 
computer other than what a normal program should be using.
-Get to know the programs that you can safely shut down with the three 
finger salute which might free things up enough to unlock a particular 
program.

The programs that seem to suck up resources on my computer are Firefox (for 
whatever reason, over time it starts to suck up more and more resources 
until I shut all the windows) and Acrobat reader (which also locks up 
Firefox because that is the browser I am using to open Acrobat pages) 
although I tend to have a number of programs open at the same time, which 
include Excel, Word, Outlook and MSN. I close those to unlock Firefox, but 
it is usually Firefox and/or Adobe that lock up on me.

Did you look at what program was sucking up the most resources? (Windows 
Task Manager, processes tab) That could tell you something about what was 
going on. Congratulations on the screen save idea, though. Sometimes it's 
the little things that do the trick.

William Closure


----Original Message Follows----

Date:    Sat, 7 Oct 2006 13:11:48 -0700
From:    D Duncan <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Releasing CPU?

When a program freezes, is there a way to release some of the CPU so
as to at least save the work before closing the program?

Or perhaps I have the logic screwy.  Yesterday, my mom's Final Draft
froze before she was able to save the document she was currently
working on.  In the Task Manager, her system was using 100% of CPU,
so I ended a few processes to see if that would release some
resources and allow her to return to Final Draft and save the
document and then close.  That was unsuccessful - it kept indicating
100% CPU, so the only thing I could think of was to take a screen
capture of the UI and have a morsel of the document to try to
recreate from.  Thankfully, she only lost the first half of the page
before this happened.(the first half being out of view/above the
fold/whatever you call it)

Then I started wondering, if 100% CPU was indicated as being in use,
how was it possible to take the capture?

What, if anything, could I have done that would have saved the document?

This instance, the system is XP Home, Final Draft 7.

Thanks,
Diane

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