How to handle frozen OS and no response to CTRL-ALT-DEL when mouse is still active?

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Patrick O'Keeffe

After connecting a laptop to the wireless network and initiating a Windows Update "Check for Updates", the laptop has become partially frozen. Specifically:

  • the clock indicates it's roughly a half-hour after initiating the "Check for updates" (so, right now, it's a full 24 hours behind reality)
  • none of the windows can be interacted with, either by clicking on them or by attempting to switch with Alt-Tab
  • mouse is able to be moved anywhere on the screen, and the cursor updates too (it changes to a spinning circle when hovered over the taskbar and reverts to a standard cursor anywhere else on screen)
  • keyboard input is mixed
    • the wifi hardware function key combo doesn't seem to affect the wireless connection status (but more likely the notification icon is just frozen)
    • brightness function key combos work as expected, dimming or undimming my display
    • no response to the Ctrl-Alt-Del combination


Clearly, something is still alive in there. Is there another approach I could try to get back online? Let me be clear up front: "restart your computer" is not a legitimate answer - I am trying to identify and fix the problem, not simply run away from it. My goal is to diagnose the cause and remove it so we don't encounter this problem again.

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