11/20/13 ACL tip: Unfreezing ACL | ITauditSecurity

itauditsecurity.wordpress.com/2010/11/15/acl-tip-unfreeze/ 1/4
ITauditSecurity
BY SKYYLERACL | NOVEMBER 1 5 , 2 01 0 6:00 AM
ACL tip: Unfreezing ACL
Occasionally when using ACL, the application appears to freeze when I open a dialog box. So I restart ACL and it
works fine until I repeat the action that froze it in the first place. For me, it alway s happens when I open the
Edit Lay out dialog box to create a computed field. Nev er any other window.
Or in ACL terms, also known as What happened to the Edit Layout screen?
Note to non-ACL users: This problem isnt particular to ACL, so you might want to read the Finding the
Cause topic below before you blow off this post entirely.
Iv e noticed that this only occurs after I last used ACL on a 2-monitor sy stem. The setup I normally use is my
laptop screen plus an additional monitor. But when Im at home or on the road and only hav e my laptop, fire
up ACL, and go to Edit, Lay out, the problem occurs: apparent ACL freeze with ev ery other application working.
Youll know y oure hav ing this problem when y ou notice the following:
You cant do any thing in ACL.
The main ACL screen is grey ed out (in other words, its not activ e because another screen/dialog box is
activ emore on that later).
Checking Task Manager indicates that ACL is Running instead of Not Responding.
You hav e an urgent ACL project in process thats past deadline already .
We first look at the fix, then the cause
Fixing the Freeze
1 . Click the icon in y our taskbar (bottom of window) to activ e the frozen application (in this case, ACL).
2. From y our key board, hold ALT and press the SPACE BAR.
3. Then press M once.
4. Using y our cursor key s, press the LEFT and UP arrow key s a dozen or so times (alternate between LEFT
and UP). At this point, a portion of the Table Lay out window should show up on y our screen. If it does not,
keep pressing LEFT and UP arrow key s a dozen more times.
5. Once the Table Lay out dialog box appears on screen, press ENTER. You should now be able to use y our
mouse to drag the Table Lay out dialog box back in full v iew so y ou can see it.
6. Close the Table Lay out dialog box and sav e y our project. Then open Edit, Lay out again to ensure the Table
Lay out dialog box stay s v isible.
11/20/13 ACL tip: Unfreezing ACL | ITauditSecurity
itauditsecurity.wordpress.com/2010/11/15/acl-tip-unfreeze/ 2/4
If this doesnt work, in step #2, instead of M, press the X key . You can also try RIGHT and DOWN arrow
key s in step #3.
Finding the Cause
When Im using my 2-monitor sy stem, I keep my laptop screen as the primary monitor, start ACL, and then
drag it to my secondary monitor, which is larger than my laptop screen. So when I click Edit, Lay out, the
Table Lay out dialog box pops open on my primary monitor.
I dont like to split an application between 2 monitors, so I drag the open dialog box from my primary monitor
to my secondary screen. Because my secondary screen is NOT my desktop (again, I could configure that way ,
but I dont for reasons that arent relev ant here), I just created my freeze problem. The next time I use ACL
on my laptop without the secondary monitor, the dialog box pops onto my non-existent secondary monitor and
I cant see it. Because the dialog box is open, ACL appears frozen, because y ou cant do any thing else before y ou
close the dialog box.
This occasionally happens with applications besides ACL, so the fix abov e will work for those application also.
The reason I positioned this issue as an ACL freeze is because I originally thought that this was an ACL-
specific problem and figured all those frustrated ACL auditors and users would google ACL Edit Lay out Freeze
like I did.
I realize that most people arent going to use my strange 2-monitor setup and hav e these issues, but for those
5 or 7 others out there in the blogsphere who hav e a twisted intellect like mine, I found a fix. For all the rest of
y ou, hopefully y ou found this interesting any way or y ou got a good giggle at my expense.
As alway s, if y ouv e experienced this issue with ACL or another application and this fix helped y ou, let us
know. Or take a swipe at me if y ou want.
Leav e a Comment

See also in this blog:

Teach Yourself ACL (Sky y lers most popular post)
ACL tip: Rerun a Join Easily
Other posts that Sky y ler wrote or was mentioned in
All ACL-related posts
Share this:
About these ads
11/20/13 ACL tip: Unfreezing ACL | ITauditSecurity
itauditsecurity.wordpress.com/2010/11/15/acl-tip-unfreeze/ 3/4
Like this:
One blogger likes this.
Like

4 Responses to ACL tip: Unfreezing ACL

Related
ACL Error: Working Directory Does Not Have Write Access
ACL: How to Add a Computed Field
Master List of ACL Articles and Tips
In "ACL"
In "ACL"
In "ACL"
Steve Rummel
April 26, 201 1 at 8:39 am
I thank y ou, my staff thanks y ou, and my clients, whose work is a week past due thanks to this infuriating
issue, thank y ou!

0

0

Rate This
Reply
ITauditSecurity
April 26, 201 1 at 1 0:1 1 pm
Follow Follow
Follow Follow
ITauditSecurity ITauditSecurity
Get every new post delivered Get every new post delivered
to your Inbox. to your Inbox.
Join 407 other followers Join 407 other followers
Enter your email address
Sign me up Sign me up
Powered by WordPress.com Powered by WordPress.com
11/20/13 ACL tip: Unfreezing ACL | ITauditSecurity
itauditsecurity.wordpress.com/2010/11/15/acl-tip-unfreeze/ 4/4
Stev e,
Glad to help. I know what this is like and I nearly went insane my self. So when I found the answer, I knew I
had to get the word out. I get a lot of hits on this post, but y oure the first who has been kind enough to take
37 seconds and leav e a comment. So, thank YOU!

0

0

Rate This
Reply
Bernard Yong
April 7 , 201 3 at 6:58 pm
Thank y ou v ery much for thisIv e been try ing to figure out what was wrong. Uninstall and re-install ACL
many times and it didnt work. Youre a LEGEND!

0

0

Rate This
Reply
ITauditSecurity
April 7 , 201 3 at 1 0:1 6 pm
Bernard,
Glad I could help. Its a frustrating problem, but Im no legend.
Thanks for commenting.

0

0

Rate This
Reply