Works: Program Stops Responding When You Change Active Desktop Settings

When you change Active Desktop settings in Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Works may stop responding (hang) shortly after you start the program.

NOTE: When Works stops responding, your computer may stop responding as well.

This behavior can occur if the graphics hardware acceleration setting on your computer is set too high.

To reduce the graphics hardware acceleration setting:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click System.
3. On the Performance tab, click Graphics.
4. Move the Hardware acceleration slider until it is one notch to the right of None (the Basic acceleration setting).
5. Click OK, and then click Close.
6. When you are prompted to restart your computer, do so.

If you are unable to restart your computer:

1. Press and hold down the CTRL key when you see the Starting Windows 98 message (in Microsoft Windows 98) or press F8 when you see the Starting Windows 95 message (in Microsoft Windows 95) on the screen.
2. Click Safe Mode.
3. Repeat steps 1 through 6 in the "Resolution" section of this article to restore your original graphics hardware acceleration setting.

If 16 megabytes (MB) or more of Random Access Memory (RAM) is installed in your computer, you should not notice any loss of performance when you decrease the graphics hardware acceleration.

If you do notice any loss of performance, restore your original graphics hardware acceleration setting.

NOTE: These symptoms can also occur when you use some third-party desktop themes.