Problems With Task Manager?

Hi, I have been having problems with Task Manager XP sp3 not helping me "end a process" and then I eventually have to power off my notebook. It used to work fine. I would click on the Process and end task and if that failed then I would do Ctrl + Alt + Del and click on task manager in the task bar and that would end the process.

I would appreciate any and all suggestions.

Thank you for your time.

What process are you trying to end?

How long are you giving it timewise?

Do you get any message about why it won't end?