pressing power button off Vs. Start -> Turn off Computer

[Guest]

Hi -
I'm having a terrible time trying to help my 75-yr-old dad, via long
distance, troubleshoot his computer that consistently freezes while shutting
down. He has XP, SP2. I've had him use System Restore twice, and both times
this has fixed the problem but trashed his McAfee VirusScan. He then
reverses the Restore to get back where he was before. He insists that it
seems to cause no problem to simply hold in the power button, to the count of
5, until the CPU powers off.

He has no patience to go through the arduous task working through the
troubleshooting steps of finding what system service, startup item, etc.
could be causing the problem. System Restore is about all he can handle.

I tell him it is a bad approach to shut down the computer by simply powering
it off. However, I'm just saying that because all my (computing) life I've
been told that!

So, is it really so bad to power off the computer using the power button
instead of using Start -> Turn Off Computer -> Turn Off? IF so, why?
Thanks, Amy

 

[DandyDon]

Doing a normal Windows shutdown allows Windows to 'houseclean' by properly
shutting down operational processes and applications, and 'put away' files
and folders that were in use before powering off.

Shutting down with the power switch doesn't allow any of that to happen.
Instead of a neat and tidy house you can open up to guests anytime and be
proud of, you have one that looks like a hurricane or tornado hit it.

The problems you dad has is because he has a tornado house, and it's finally
fell in on itself.

The solution has two parts, one you need to restore the machine so it
functions properly, and two you need to get him to take a computer class at
a local senior center. He needs to have the knowledge of how to care and
maintain a computer, and he needs to hear from someone besides YOU.
This will keep your relationship with him warm and fuzzy like it should
be,-you won't argue and fight over a machine-(which to me is stupid)-he will
meet other people that has the same problems as him, (clueless about
computers), he will make new friends, and he will hear what he needs to hear
and learn from someone he can't argue with. The instructor.

I feel your pain. I have a friend who's a wonderful soul, they work best
with a pad, a pen, and a postage stamp. But they insisted they needed a
computer, asked what to buy, then went and bought EXACTLY what I told them
NOT to buy. I steered them here because I got tired of patiently explaining
the same thing over and over.

Good Luck

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi Amy,

Ask him how he stops the car. Does he apply the brakes with appropriate
pressure and come to a full stop, allowing the engine to idle down and for
the vehicle's momentum to slow accordingly? Or does he just run into a brick
wall? Doing the latter will slow the car down in a hurry, and may even
work - for a time - if it's going slow enough, but there's no question as to
which action will bring the car to the end of its life quicker.

If he doesn't have the patience to fix it himself, then get it to a local
tech for proper troubleshooting.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[paulmd]

Hi -
I'm having a terrible time trying to help my 75-yr-old dad, via long
distance, troubleshoot his computer that consistently freezes while shutting
down. He has XP, SP2. I've had him use System Restore twice, and both times
this has fixed the problem but trashed his McAfee VirusScan. He then
reverses the Restore to get back where he was before. He insists that it
seems to cause no problem to simply hold in the power button, to the count of
5, until the CPU powers off.

He has no patience to go through the arduous task working through the
troubleshooting steps of finding what system service, startup item, etc.
could be causing the problem. System Restore is about all he can handle.

I tell him it is a bad approach to shut down the computer by simply powering
it off. However, I'm just saying that because all my (computing) life I've
been told that!

So, is it really so bad to power off the computer using the power button
instead of using Start -> Turn Off Computer -> Turn Off? IF so, why?
Thanks, Amy

99 times out of a hunderd, There will be no problem. However, if the
computer happens to be in the middle of writing data to the hard disk
at the time, it may result in corruption of the file and/or filesystem,
that may or may not be correctable using chkdsk. Hardwarewise, the risk
is even smaller, because motherboard and hardware designs have gotten
better, on average. BUT, it's still not a great idea.

 

[JohnO]

Ask him how he stops the car.

The analogy I thought about was jumping out of the car while it is still
running.

FWIW, XP can shut itself down nicely if you just press the power button for
a moment.

-John O

 

[Bob I]

Go into Power Options, Advanced and set the PC to "Shut down" "When I
press the power button on my computer". Then if he presses the button
Windows will perform the Shut down just like using the "Shutdown" button