How long do you wait for a program that is not responding?

[Capt. Obvious]

I'm working with a massive file so I expect it to grind my computer to a halt but at some point I need to kill it.

I killed it once and now on a second go.

Just curious how long you'd wait it out?

[malthaussen]

1. It depends on the program.

Most of the stuff I use, I have a good sense of how long it should take to respond, so if it goes too far over that point, I kill it. Biggest program I have trouble with these days is Firefox trying to open DU, which often hangs up for quite some time.

-- Mal

[irisblue]

2. do I need the bathroom?

2- am I leaving for an appointment
3-is there something in the kitchen I need to/should do?
4-is there something more interesting on the larger idiot box
5-YMMV.

[jakeXT]

3. Sometimes I have to kill the Flash Player to get Firefox running, but what also helps is

running Firefox in safe mode without add-ons

http://www.wikihow.com/Start-Firefox-in-Safe-Mode

[Wounded Bear]

4. Excuse me, what were you saying?