Turning your computer off by front panel button??

G

grazhopper

New Member
I've heard a lot of opinions about whether it is bad for the computer to turn it off by pressing the button on the front of it. Is this true, or just a myth??
 
It stops processes without sending a kill signal, it can cause errors but I've never experienced one that's been caught on checkdisk directly from turning it off that way. It's worse if you do it in Linux than Windows I've heard.
 
TheChef said:
It's worse if you do it in Linux than Windows I've heard.
Click to expand...
Thats generally true, but it depends on which file system you're using. Ext3 is generally pretty stable when compared to Ext2, and fsck has never failed me :) . Out of all the filesystems currently available, BSD's UFS would probally be my choice.

It really depends on what you mean. Usually if you just tap the button, it will send all processes the term signal, and unmount cleanly. If you hold it down however, it will just kill the circuit.

I wouldn't do it all the time, but if you do it occasionally you should be fine.
 
IT you just press it once it is fine, and starts shuting down, its bad if you press and HOLD the button so it does a cold shutdown
 
Xycron said:
IT you just press it once it is fine, and starts shuting down, its bad if you press and HOLD the button so it does a cold shutdown
Click to expand...


I was thinking he meant cold shutdown by holding it. I've never heard anyone say that just pressing it and allowing it to properly shutdown via the button was bad.
 
on my computer i can press the button all I want and it doesn't shut down! Neither does ANY of the computers in my house! At my school however I just press the button and it shuts down, but for me to shut down my computer with out shutting it down via start button I have to press and hold. I've heard there really isn't that bad as long as you have everything in your RAM saved.
 
GamerGuy8899 said:
on my computer i can press the button all I want and it doesn't shut down! Neither does ANY of the computers in my house! At my school however I just press the button and it shuts down, but for me to shut down my computer with out shutting it down via start button I have to press and hold. I've heard there really isn't that bad as long as you have everything in your RAM saved.
Click to expand...
Try reversing the pins its plugged into the mobo.
 
With Windows XP and a reasonably modern computer (i.e. ATX power supply) it's fine. It will just signal the computer to turn itself off, which is exactly the same as using Start -> Turn Off. That's assuming you tap the button. Holding it down will kill the power without giving the OS a chance to shut down, which is not a good idea.

With previous operating systems and with AT power supplies, it's not a good idea. It will kill the power without giving the OS a chance to shut down.
 
Very very bad. My uncle's computer they push that button to turn off the the computer and it so slow right now.
 
Raditz said:
Very very bad. My uncle's computer they push that button to turn off the the computer and it so slow right now.
Click to expand...
Turning off the computer with the front panel button would have NOTHING to do with the speed of the comptuer, the only thing that can occer is possible coruption and loss of data.
 
On the newer computers, pressing the power button just brings the "shut down, log off, or stand by" message up, or starts the shutdown process. Only if you hold it down for 5 seconds does it actually shut the computer down. And in that five seconds the computer will try to save whatever data it can.
 
Well if you've got an unresponsive system... thats the only option (holding it down)... Or have I been missing something all these years...

I guess I should be more patient lol

EDIT: Yes I do know about ctrl-alt-del lol
 
Last edited:
34erd said:
Well if you've got an unresponsive system... thats the only option (holding it down)... Or have I been missing something all these years...

I guess I should be more patient lol
Click to expand...
Nah, that's about the only option. I guess they're talking about doing it on a regular basis instead of using Start -> Turn Off.

Holding the power button down to turn off the PC can cause data loss or file corruption. If you have to do it, it's unlikely to hurt the PC, but don't do it on a regular basis. Remember, that's different to just tapping the button on an XP machine, which will just start the shutdown process, and is fine to do.
 
Yea my friend kept turning on my computer then "hard" turning my computer by holding down the front button and after a few times of that it said missing ntdl file or something like that and asked for the windows xp cd.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top