Technic Launcher is already open

[DragonRider13]

Occasionally, while playing multiplayer Tekkit Classic on a server I'm hosting, the game will freeze up completely and I have to close it using the Windows Task Manager. However, when I try to open the launcher after this crash, I get the error "Cannot check launcher version, the launcher is currently open!". When I check my processes in the Task Manager it tells me Java is still open, even when I shut down the server completely. When I try stopping the java.exe process nothing happens, and the launcher remains impossible to open, only working when I completely restart my computer. It's becoming a pain to completely stop the server and reboot every time one of these crashes happens- is there some way I can stop the java.exe process even if it refuses to do so? Is this a bug with one of the mods in Tekkit, Minecraft itself, or Java?

I'm using 64 bit Windows 7, and the Java test here says it's up to date- any ideas?

EDIT: Perhaps it was because I was running the old Technic Launcher- I've updated it and haven't had it crash/freeze up so far. Then again, I haven't played it for any length of time yet...