My Computer Just Locked Up / Won't Turn On
This article will walk you through a couple steps in case your computer stops responding.
NOTE:
- Transactions which were completed BEFORE the issue occurred are still saved in Trackside.
- If you were in the middle of a transaction when the issue occurred, this may be lost.
- Once your point of sale is back up and running, you may resume your till where you left off and the details of all the transactions will still show up in any of your reports, including closing till.
TRY THIS FIRST: Ctrl+Alt+Del
Your first line of defense is always to press Ctrl+Alt+Del simultaneously to gain access to the Windows Task Manager.
It's important to note some of the processes within this window are vital to Windows' operation, and if you close them you can crash Windows and force a system restart.
If it was just Chrome that locked up on you, you can click on it and End Task, which will force Chrome to close.
You will lose anything you were in the middle of editing, but if the program wasn't going to respond, you're going to lose it regardless and this will allow you to re-open the program so you can resume.
NEXT OPTION: Shutdown
If that doesn't work, then you can hold the power button to force the computer to shut down.
You want to minimize the computer being turned off without a proper shutdown, because as is the case with all computers, this can cause bad spots in the hard drive. These computers are appropriately sized for the tasks they need to perform, but there isn't a significant amount of extra, and you won't be able to change internal storage on these. Power loss during storms will do the same thing.
An Uninterruptible Power Supply, or UPS is one way to combat power outages and surges, even if you have a generator system. These are batteries with an interface system that will allow you time to shut down in case of an outage. A small one will suffice for these machines.
If you're left with no other option though, holding the power button shouldn't cause any immediate failures.
LAST RESORT: Reset
If that's still unresponsive, or if the unit is not wanting to power on, there is a reset button you can push with a paper clip.
- Turn the PC off with the above method if needed
- pull the power cord from the PC
- hold the reset button for 10 seconds to perform the reset
