Ctrl, alt, delete does not bring up windows task manager

Question

Can someone tell me what has happened?

Answer 1

Well, it could have been disabled by spy ware or virus (only if a "Task Manager has been disabled by Administrator" Pop-up comes up.) If this does come-up, try scanning your computer with an anti virus and spy ware protector, like Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware. Here's a link to Microsoft Support Page about this: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555480

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Try right-clicking on the taskbar and click on 'Task Manager'.

Answer 2

Make sure all the buttons on your keyboard are working.  If you have a spare one, swap it out.  Otherwise, just do a quick keyboard test to ensure that you don't have food interfering with the keys, or the contacts just haven't worn out.

Also, is this your personal computer?  If not, make sure your profile has permission to access task manager on the computer you're using.  It's possible to lock that out, and many network administrators do.

You can also access the task manager by right-clicking the taskbar at the bottom of the screen, and choosing the task manager option (provided you have access to it).  That doesn't solve your ctrl, alt, delete issue, but it is a workaround.