[TriLUG] What to do when KDE freaks out?

[Lisa C. Boyd]

I know this will make several of you cringe, but hey, I'm just learning
here :) A couple of times now I have switched from my Win 98 machine to
my Linux machine (I have a Belkin KVM switch). Normally I have to wait a
few seconds at most for the mouse to start working. A couple of times
now though - everything's started freaking out - the toolbar at the
bottom goes to outline like I'm trying to move it - error dialog boxes
come up in whatever programs I had open etc. It will not let me do
anything with the keyboard at this point (or I am trying the wrong key
combinations). Since I don't know what else to do, I've just powered
down the machine (I know you're cringing now) and boot it back up.

Is there anything I can do to fix this? Or to keep from shutting it down
harshly when it happens? Any insight is much appreciated as always.
Guess I should also remind you guys I'm running Debian. Don't know what
other information might be helpful.

Thanks for the help :)
Lisa B.