Is there a way to prevent ZorinOS from getting overloaded & freezing?

ZorinOS Lite is freezing when a lot is running, & when CPU is very high. Is there a way to prevent ZorinOS from getting overloaded & freezing? Or is there like a "Ctrl+Alt+Delete" solution for when it freezes? Besides shutting ZorinOS down completely/power off.
(And yes I know i need to change my thermal paste & clean my fans, but in the meantime)

I have found Zorin OS Lite to be very minimal in CPU usage. Have you checked running Process with "Task manager" app in the App Menu?

Yes, ctrl+alt+del will give access to shut down, log out, etc. But this keyboard shortcut will not work if the Display Manager is included in the crash.

Can you include your PC Specs in this thread?

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I will try Ctrl Alt Del, but i think everything was frozen & that may not work. Here are my PC specs: Laptop Dell Inspiron 14z (N411z) (Inspiron 14 3000 Series) (2011)
--Intel Core i5-2430M, 2 x 2.4 to 3 GHz, Sandy Bridge, TDP: 35 W,
--Intel HD Graphics 3000, Core: 660 MHz, Memory: 660 MHz.
--6GB DDR3 RAM, 5.89 usable.
--Atheros AR8152 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller (10/100MBit/s), Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030 (b/g/n = Wi-Fi 4)
–Samsung 860 PRO 512GB V-NAND 2bit MLC SATA36Gb/s 2.5-inch SSD

RAM 6 Gb

Is this 2 Gb primary slot, or slot A ? And 4 Gb in the extended slot, slot B ?
If so turn the situation around, 4 Gb should be in the primary slot or slot A, and the small 2 Gb bank in B or slot B (expansion slot).
I think you have a possible 'rotten' (dried-out capacitors) RAM bank and the small 2 Gb - bank is the suspect of the problems.
You may run a basic MEMTEST but even a dried-out bank can pass that test ....

I learned this the hard way for myself on an old Lenovo T400 where the small RAM-bank was rotten. New, fresh, RAM solved all problems in that system.

Look on AliExpress for the brand VKLO and those RAM's are identical as Crucial (the Azian version).
And, of course, I hope you are past the HDD-story and got on board with an SSD disk. If this is not the case, on AliExpress those SSD's are sold very cheap on 2,5' types. So you can score a 500 Gb SSD for a mere 25 $ or € (shipping included).
Thermopaste is out of its time-stamp, better buy thermo-gel (grease) from the newest systems (gray color). Bios battery should be on the list as well now.
So group your buys on AliExpress and you can have a speed delivery of 15 days (warranted !!) at your doorstep.

Dust in the cooling system is a 5 minutes job ..... of course this is unwanted cumulation of heat so clean out the fan + radiator inside the laptop.

My Dell 1545 is a much older version than yours, Dual2Core - 4 Gb , and runs all big versions of anything just fine. Of course, all taken care of such as removing dust etc .... My main daily driver is an i7 - 1st gen @ 1,8 Ghz - 8 Gb Dell Latitude running all perfect even on Kernel 6.2.2 at this moment and a Zorin 16.2 Core full version. So no need for 'Light' on that system of yours.

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These should be working just fine. I agree with @joshuaorbit about RAM:

This is within the minimum requirements, but in actual daily use and practice, I would consider this as dangerously low in these modern times. As @joshuaorbit provides an example of; If something is not working right within the RAM, then it can be a very stark difference in RAM behavior when your RAM is low enough that there is nothing to fall back on.

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@joshuaorbit , oh wow, thanks for all the information, very helpful.
How do i figure out which slot my 2GB bank is in without having to open it up? I am not in a position to open it up right now.

And if MEMTEST doesnt help. How can i figure out if my banks are dried out or not? I dont want to buy new banks for no reason if their performance ends up being the same.

Also, there are issues about your recommendation of SSD's & also aliexpress.
1.) SSDs dont encrypt as safely as HDDs do, it appears. But otherwise I'm all for SSD's & their better technology & better speeds. See my post: LINK

In regards to SSD's & Aliexpress, we definitely need to talk about this. For example about the rampant storage device & SSD counterfeits going on right now, especially being made & sold from foreign countries. If I bought an SSD for only $25, i would be extremely suspect of it. But i dont know everything. There are ways to test the SSD's. But also, wouldnt it be safest to just buy them straight from the manufacturer? not a 3rd party?
Also, there are reports of spyware being planted on hard drives (LINK 1) & (LINK 2), which makes it even more important to be careful about the source of the hard drive. If one bought it from some dodgy asian 3rd party company that may shut down & dissapear tomorrow, they may be a great method for adversory governments to introduce spyware into an opposing country. Sell storage devices for crazy cheap prices, even take a loss, just so spyware can be exported into the opposing country.

-Thanks! :slight_smile:

i face that problem(high cpu reach to 99%) only when run bad windows app or game using wine, i think there is error like loop which cause that problem(high cpu). i think we should be careful when using that type of apps, also i think may manage it with cpu manager like cpu-power manager

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???
My system runs fine with 4gb ram DDR3

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Ah... yes... but... I see you are using DDR3 which utilizes an infindibulator to re-route the sigmoid plasmodium through the flux capacitor using a tachyon pulse...

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What? Hahaha
{Even the best people says wrong things sometimes}

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