software glitches

12.03.08

What Happens When Your Computer Crashes

What happens within your computer when it locks up or crashes? And why do some operating systems seem inherently more stable than others?

Posted 10.25.2002 at 4:39 pm 0 Comments

Tony Rose

Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada

All computers lock up or crash, and no operating system is immune (as a matter of fact, we crashed once as we wrote this answer), but singling out specific reasons oversimplifies the issue, explains Daniel Jackson, a computer science professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The underlying cause, Jackson says, is that hardware and software developers are trying to bring products to market in "Internet time"-that is, hyperfast. The result: Quality and reliability suffer.

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speedy A Finish that Repairs Itself
"It won't save you from a key-gouging vandal, but the finish on the 2008 Infiniti EX and FX-model SUVs can erase scrapes caused by, say, car washes or stray branches."
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speedy Boeing Advanced Tactical Laser
"Truck-mounted IED-destroying lasers have already been tested in Iraq, but firing lasers from an airplane is a more difficult proposition."
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speedy A Spit Test for Heart Attacks
"This year, San Antonio EMT crews began using a spit test that detects cardiac arrest faster, more accurately and more cheaply than other diagnostic tests."

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