- when a webpage locks your computer up, its usually because of a “memory leak”, or simply, the page keeps dumping information in your RAM, filling it up and eventually crashing your pc. commands to help you out of these pages as fast as possible:
alt + f4 closes the program.
ctrl + w closes the window (eg: if you had two chrome windows open, ctrlw would ony close one, while altf4 closes both).
windows key + r opens the run box. type “shutdown /p /f” without the quote marks. this translates as “shutdown, using the AHCI (power) shutdown, and force applications to close”.
use an AHCI shutdown - eg: hold the power button down. when youre ready, turn the computer back on, wait for the beep (if there is one, otherwise just start as soon as your boot it), then tap f8 repeatedly until “advanced boot options appears”. boot into “safe mode”, and carry out a system scan. i would suggest NOT booting into networked mode. safe mode with command prompt is kind of advanced, so maybe avoid that too.
MACINTOSH (Intel/post-2006 confirmed, but PPC might use these):
cmd + q is like altf4 on windows; it Quits an application. its possible that either cmd + shift + q or cmd + option + q will Force Quit an application.
cmd + w is like ctrl + w on windows; it closes a window.
if you dont have it set in the mouse settings, ctrl + clicking brings up the context/“right click” menu.
pressing option can change some menu items. eg: option can change “Quit” to “Force Quit”. this is useful for frozen or stalled applications.
ctrl + option + cmd + eject is like clicking shutdown in the menu BUT if someone else is logged in, it will still prompt for a password. if no one else is, it acts like a regular shutdown. there is no key-press for forced shutdown besides AHCI (power button) shutdown.
please note that if you have a firmware password (eg: you have to type in a password BEFORE the login screen), then the below MAY not work unless you turn the firmware password off first.
also, some older macs will need their “install disks” if they cant run these commands natively and have been disconnected from the internet.
holding D on startup (or option-D if it doesnt work the first time) after the chime - if you have one - will boot into “Apple Hardware Diagnostics”. THIS IS NOT A MALWARE SCAN. it will tell you if it detects issues physically. you can search the results for answers. THIS CAN TAKE A WHILE.
holding option on startup after the chime allows you to select what drive to boot from. most macs will have a recovery sector. more on this later. i think you can boot straight from a time machine drive, but im not sure. sometimes this takes a while to detect all your drives.
holding shift on startup boots you into safe mode. it acts like windows safe mode. may take a little longer than booting normally.
holding T on startup makes your mac act like a harddrive. connect it to another mac through firewire, thunderbolt2/3, or usb-c and it will mount like a regular drive. you can use this method to save files that havent been backed up.
holding cmd + r on startup will boot you into recovery mode. i mentioned this earlier. this mode allows you to: completely factory reset your mac, refresh from a backup (i think only time machine is supported here. other backups might have to be done after wiping the mac first, using its own software), use utilities like diskutil, and search Apples forums in a safe-mode-type environment.
holding cmd + option + p + r for about 5-8 seconds after the chime will cause the chime to sound again (warning: it will reset your macs volume! it might be loud so be careful) and reset the NVRAM/PRAM (same thing, different names). this can clear some issues. some Apple Settings will be reset to default in the process, such as screen brightness, keyboard brightness, energy saving behaviour, sound. if you keep holding the keys beyond the second chime, it will continue to reset and reboot. this has no lasting effect, and can actually help in some very rare cases.
for desktop macs: turn your pc off, unplug it from mains, then hold the power button for 10-30 seconds. let go, plug the mac back in and turn it on. this will reset the SMC. it is important that when youre pressing the button, the mac cannot actually turn on. what this does is pushes the charge all the way out of the system. other times you might so something similar are: with a windows (yeah! youll never see microsoft touting that you do it, but sometimes it helps), phones when you let them die completely before recharging them, fire/co alarms/detectors when you change the battery (its actually really healthy to let battery & mains fire alarms discharge when you change the battery. this can be done by holdig test when its completely disconnected. it might screech, so be careful). some settings may, again, be lost. i usually do this, and then reset the NVRAM as its booting.
you can search any of these on google and find that Apple has specific help pages on these things.
- windows defender has a feature called “offline scan”. its really good to run this (i usually do it after running other “live” types of antivirus scan - ie: ones that dont have to restart your computer to run) and it is really goddamn good at getting rid of quiet and hidden viruses, as well as rootkits (these latch onto the core of your computer, making it dangerous to remove by hand because it often edits the registry, which is like your computer’s DNA, and removing it will break the registry). it needs a reboot to run, and its best to disable or remove other antivirus software before running it. some 3rd party antiviruses may have similar features.
- do not rely on your once-a-week scan. scan regularly, scan intensely. perhaps set it up to run a deep scan on boot, and leave the computer while it does this.
- actually, do not rely solely on scans. noticing your pc getting hot even when you do nothing? noticed its running slowly, or that your passwords suddenly dont autofill? maybe the new tab page changed, or you keep getting weird ads that youve never seen before and are unrelated to what youve searched. run a scan and lock your pc down. adware can also contain spyware. not that we use them anymore, but toolbars are just an example of that. changes in password form behaviour mean your cookies have probably cleared - and if you leave your pc alone for a while, that could be a problem as it implies someone else remotely accessed your computer then cleared the cookies to hide it. keyloggers are easy to hide, as are backdoors/RATs. junk and viruses from spammy and scammy downloads can slow your pc down, especially if its being pulled into a botnet or if its continuously tracking your data and sending it to someone else.
- do. not. respond. to. calls. from. “microsoft”. saying. that. your. ip. is. hacked. it is a KNOWN scam and will result in you paying hundreds for someone to open a command prompt window, type tree or dir, and then install some free antivirus. look up scambaiting. watch videos. know the signs.
- one thing to do to avoid viruses automatically installing themselves: go into your browser settings and change the download option to “ask me every time”. this means that any time a sute tries to download something, you must confirm it. oh, also - myth: “viruses can download even if you say no!” truth: literally anything but that. myth: “webcams can turn on without the light turning on!” truth: very few camera lights actually turn on when receiving a command. most actually just recieve some of the cameras power when the conputer talks to it. this means that 99/100 camera lights will come on as soon as the camera does, if not before.
- many browsers allow you to hover over a link and see the url in the bottom corner(s). got a link that the text says is google, but your browser says is “123.gomicrisoft,com/fkw27gk484hfjvn5847”? its probably a scam page.
- incognito/private browsing pages are not self-contained. you can still get viruses through them.
if in doubt, back out, turn off, call a professional.
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