Hang
This page is about the computer malfunction called hanging. For other meanings, see hang (disambiguation). For the capital punishment, see hanging.In
computing, either a single
computer program or the whole system may
hang, better known as
freeze. This means that either just this process or the whole system is unresponsive to
keyboard and
mouse input. The window concerned or the whole computer screen becomes static, in the latter case including the mouse cursor. Contrast with
crash, where a program exits abnormally with an error message. When no other input works the
power cycle must be restarted by an on/off or reset button.
The cause of a hang is usually that the programmer has incorrect termination conditions for a
loop, or, in a
co-operative multitasking operating system, forgetting to yield to other tasks. But unstable electricity is an underestimated cause for hangs. More hangs than most people realize are due to interferences in the electricity.
Usually, in systems with a modern
operating system, the user is able to terminate the programs running (for instance, with the
kill command, or through the "end task" button on the task list in recent versions of
Microsoft Windows), and, if they wish, restart it in the hope that the anomalous condition that caused the hang does not recur. Older systems, such as those using
MS-DOS or
Microsoft Windows 3.1, often needed to be
totally restarted in the event of a hang.
Most newer systems, such as
Windows 2000/
XP,
Apple Computer's
Mac OS X and
Linux crash less often; they do not need to be totally restarted in the event of a hang.
A
Watchdog timer can
reboot the computer in events of a hang.
*
abort (computing)*
Blue screen of death*
crash (computing)*
Deadlock*
Livelock*
Infinite loop*
Hangout*
Hang (musical instrument)
