In computing, the three-finger salute is a jocular term for the keyboard combination that forces a soft boot or jump to ROM monitor (on machines that support such a feature). It is also known as the "Vulcan nerve pinch" or "Vulcan death grip" from the original Star Trek TV series.
The "three-finger salute" is named after the one-finger salute, a euphmistic name for a rude hand gesture.
Platform Key combo Function Amiga Ctrl + Left Amiga + Right Amiga Reboot the machine some Amigas Ctrl + Commodore + Amiga Reboot the machine IBM PC under DOS Ctrl + Alt + Del Reboot the machine IBM PC under Windows Ctrl + Alt + Del Bring up login screen or enter task manager IBM PC under other OS Ctrl + Alt + Del Often, but not always configured to reboot Sun workstation L1/Stop + A Enter ROM monitor Sun workstation (serial console) Break Enter ROM monitor Apple II family machines Ctrl + Reset Enters the monitor or ROM BASIC
Ctrl + Cmd + Reset Reboot the machine
Ctrl + Option + Reset Enter BIOS setup, then reboot
Ctrl + Option + Apple + Reset Self-test, then reboot Some Apple Macintosh computers Cmd + Power Enter monitor
Control + Cmd + Power Reboot the machine Mac OS X Command + Option + Esc Force quit applications SGI workstation Left Shift + Left Ctrl + Left Alt + Keypad Divide + F12
Commodore 64 Left Shift + Ctrl Reboot the machine Run/Stop + Restore Halt and return to READY prompt X Window System Ctrl + Alt + Backspace Restarts windowing system, logging the user out.
Article based on Three-finger salute (http://foldoc.doc.ic.ac.uk/foldoc/foldoc.cgi?query=three+finger+salute) at FOLDOC (http://www.foldoc.org), used with permission.