Is there a freeze-breaking program that really works? I have two that don't.

I have tried Tweaking.com Kill Frozen Programs and AntiFreeze by Resplendence. Both after installation are supposed to work through the pressing of specified keys. But I have yet to get either one to work.

I will appreciate advice on preventing freezes, but I'm afraid as long as I'm on my old XP I'm likely to have need of a fix for a freeze that has happened. The freezes come very irregularly. I have had three in the last 24 hours after going with few or none for a fair amount of time. I can have things running pretty smoothly and then have a freeze hit suddenly without warning.

Also, any special advice for how I should handle it when I do have to resort to the power button?

 

You need to examine the event viewer immediately after a freeze. That will reveal which program or process triggered the freeze. There isn't a panacea for this problem.

 

I haven't used that before. Where do I go?

Windows XP
Home Edition
Version 2002
Service Pack 3

Dell DIMENSION DIM2400
Intel(R)
Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.66GHz
2.66 Ghz. 2.00 GB of RAM

Hard Drive Size 111.72 GB
Free Space 34.14 GB

 

This page from Microsoft tells how to use Event Viewer in Windows XP

This page from Bleeping Computer gives even more detail.