What happens if I don't use "turn off computer" button

[Guest]

What happens if I don't use the Windows XP "Turn off Computer"/"Shut down"
button in the Start menu? Is it bad to turn off the computer with the power
button on the computer? How about form the mains power? I know in the olden
days people had to "park" their hard drives but I thought we were past all
that?

 

[David Candy]

Nothing happens 999 times out of a thousand (except some settings aren't saved).

 

[Ron Sommer]

Shutdown saves data from running programs, stops running programs, and shuts
down windows.
You don't stop using your car by turning off the key and getting out of the
car.

 

[Guest]

Pressing Power Button on an ATX Cabinet - Windows XP will automatically close
all the open process and will ask you to save the data (if any) before
closing an application.

If you directly switch off from main power then :
* Any unsaved data will be lost.
* Next time Windows XP will do a check on your disk.
* Chances of file and applications corruption
and many more.

Always do a complete Shut Down.

 

[Mike Hall - MS MVP Windows Shell/User]

Smiley

It is a lazy way to do it.. like stopping the engine on car by using the
clutch and brake to stall it.. DOS based Windows would have made you pay for
your actions..

 

[Leythos]

What happens if I don't use the Windows XP "Turn off Computer"/"Shut down"
button in the Start menu? Is it bad to turn off the computer with the power
button on the computer? How about form the mains power? I know in the olden
days people had to "park" their hard drives but I thought we were past all
that?

Depending on the computer, there are several things that can happen when
you press the power button:

1) Immediate shutdown, not a windows shutdown, it's a power off.

2) Computer goes into Suspend mode, sleeps till power pressed again.

3) Computer does a Windows Shutdown, just like if you did it from the
Start button.

There are a couple others, but those are the most common.

Power Off - this one can lead to file corruption, any number of things
related to improperly closing open files. This can also cause any
desktop/profile changes to not be saved.

Suspend Mode - if it did this, you would see a "Resuming" display when
you press the power button again the next time. This means your computer
just suspends (saves to disk) the current session and then powers off so
that you can resume exactly where you left off later. Many users
computers don't do this properly for one reason or another.

Shutdown (normal) - this is the same as if you selected, Start,
Shutdown, Shutdown.

 

[Guest]

All very very interesting. Thank you all.