A history lesson
Ctrl – Alt – Del is a combination on a keyboard that you can use to stop an ongoing process on the computer or just a way of checking the situation thoroughly at that given moment. Its usage differs from OS to OS, and we can say even its origin of coming to be is somewhat interesting.
Origin of Ctrl – Alt – Del
Like every useful invention, Ctrl – Alt – Del also had a starting point. In 1981, David Bradley was an engineer who is working on IBM’s upcoming PC, and he came up with such an idea.
The reason for that was programmers who were looking for coding problems on the said PC. When they found one, they had to restart the computer to understand what is really causing it. But restarting the PC was followed by a series of memory tests, and it took the precious time they were in need of. Then Bradley thought of a way to force the PC to restart without the memory tests and to be sure it wouldn’t be initiated by chance he used Ctrl – Alt – Del combination.
After the new PC caught a success on the market, the Ctrl – Alt – Del keyboard shortcut become popular among users. In a short time, the combination reached Windows. In an interview, Bradley said that he did not think that the combination would spread worldwide, because he only planned it for programmers who tried to fix the issues on the PC and computer code.
On Windows Vista and higher Windows OS, the Ctrl-Alt-Del combination opens up the Windows Security. From there you can lock your computer, log off from your account, change your password restart or shut down your computer, and open up the fabled “Task Manager”. It is also can be used to log in to an account on some versions of XP, Vista, and 7.
However, no matter which OS you use, when starting the computer if you press Ctrl – Alt – Del before Windows (or any other operating system) is able to recognize the command, the BIOS will restart your computer. And this will also happen if your Windows is performing diagnostic tests during the startup process.
