Its been almost a year since I”ve used Windows XP, but I do know that one hotkey shortcut combo I used quite frequently with XP was the CTRL + ALT + DEL combination to instantly bring up the Task Manager. Here is a quickie key combo to to task manager in Windows 7 or Vista.
In Windows 7 or Vista, CTRL + ALT + DEL brings up a full dialog screen, similar to the main logon screen. From here you can choose to start the Task Manager along with other options. The most useful hotkey tip I can offer for Vista is CTRL + SHIFT + ESC. This combination will what will instantly bring up the Task Manager in Vista or Windows 7.