When my Ubuntu 12.04 installed on the old HP PC Compact refused the 'Shut down'/'Restart' command as a result of e.g. unsaved files in gedit and stopped running the system menu (my formulation before July 2015 stated misleadingly 'freezed'), I briefly press the power button at the computer case, as I was used to in Windows. This will bring up a dialog Ubuntu "Shut Down" and it works like if I clicked on the "Shut Down" system menu. (This is probably set in the "setup" BIOS.) Until now, I have not observed any problems resulting from the procedure. Is the procedure OK generally? (I use it with a particular old hardware that is not certified for Ubuntu.)
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It would be better to press ctrl+alt+F1, F2, ..., or F6, then end the program from the terminal, using top or htop (if installed).
If you still can do some things with the GUI, you can open gnome-system-monitor, and kill the problem program/service. Or open terminal and use top/htop.
Or you can kill the x server (the OS GUI), using ctrl+ alt + backspace. But first you have to make sure that shortcut is enabled. Check this one:
How can I enable Ctrl+Alt+Backspace?
Any one of these methods is A. Faster and B. Less damaging to non-saved information than a hard shutdown/reset.
