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Ctrl-Alt-Del

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Ctrl-Alt-Del

The key combination in Windows that enables a user to terminate an unresponsive application. When all three keys are pressed at the same time, the Task Manager utility, which displays all open apps, can be selected from a menu. The Task Manager enables the user to shut down the computer.

First used to reboot DOS PCs, the keystrokes were chosen by IBM in 1981 to ensure users would not accidentally press them. The delete key is at the opposite end of the keyboard from the Ctrl and Alt keys. See Command-Option-Escape and Win Task Manager.


End a Task in Windows 10
Pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del in Windows 10 displays a menu in which Task Manager is one of the options.
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References in periodicals archive
Striking, especially to the head, can enable you to manually reset an assailant's OODA loop--like hitting Control-Alt-Delete on a computer.
Reset button, Control-Alt-Delete, or Game Genie if code not going well
But it will take a bit of time to determine whether the show's content is worth saving, or if the next command should be control-alt-delete.
Washington, Sept 27 ( ANI ): Microsoft chairman Bill Gates has confessed that setting 'Control-Alt-Delete' as a way to log in to Windows was a mistake.
When you need to write your column on the train, it will be packed, the man next to you will snore and smell of sweat and there will be no elbow room so pressing return will get you a shove from the aisle and a control-alt-delete will wake up old snoozy chops.
(You can also use the keyboard shortcuts Control-Alt-Delete or Control-Shift-Escape.) In the Task Manager window, you can see all of the programs, services and processes currently running on the computer.
They can whip around music files and Tweet their Facebook friends faster than you or I can hit control-alt-delete.
"I think the economy, globally, has hit control-alt-delete," says Bill Nuti, CEO of NCR, who says companies will need to adjust to the "new norm." "People have to deal with the world the way it is now versus the way they want it to be or the way it once was."
As such, the term "Control-Alt-Delete" evokes not only the influence of technology but also themes of regeneration and persistence-recurring themes for writing center administrators, peer tutors, and student writers.
After answering several questions, the customer service representative told me to hold down the control-alt-delete keys.
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