Diane wrote:
>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?>>


In a word---usually, no. At least, not in my experience. Perhaps others 
cleverer than I may have discovered a way.You were lucky to be able to get 
a screencap.

Once a program locks up in XP, the freeze will generally affect only that 
particular software in the first instance, and the proper remedy is to 
close that program via Task Manager.   If the program is not closed 
immediately, the freeze can easily escalate into a general system freeze. 
Then your only option is to power off and reboot----a thing to be avoided 
if at all possible because in that case Windows is not closed down in an 
orderly manner and a lot of remnants can be left behind in registry and 
other places. Too many of these will clog up your system in the end and are 
often the cause of sluggish or erratic performance. Although XP is pretty 
good at self-repair, there are limits.

I don't know Final Draft--I assume it's a text editor or word processor. 
Nearly all such programs, other than the very basic Notepad variations, 
have an autosave option. Look in its options and set it to autosave say 
every 3 minutes. That way, you will only lose the last few minutes of work 
in the event of a lockup. Next time the program opens, it should bring up 
what it has autosaved.

You should also set your emailer to autosave at regular intervals, for the 
same reason.

Don Penlington


 From the Beach at Surfers Paradise in sunny Queensland.
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