Powering off XP

[Creepy]

I have allways turned off my computer in an orderly fashion - I have seen some people just hold the power off button in whilst windows etc. are still open. Apart from potentially losing unsaved data are there any other risks involved ? eg. disk problems ?

[kaktus]

You are sure they just don't press it? Win XP shuts down automatically if you just push the botton. If they hold it down continually to shut it down, then yes they can damage the computer as the programs has to shut down properly. Exactly what can happen I don't know. I'm sure someone with that knowledge will soon answer :0)

[fo3nix]

For computers generally, it shouldn't be required that you shut down the computer with software; you should just be able to turn it off at the plug. In fact, you could do this with Apple Acorn computers, and some older computers like the Canon Cat didn't have a power switch - they were constantly in standby mode!

Due to the way windows works though, you should properly shut down. When you change settings and things, sometimes the new settings just get left in memory for the time being (or other things than settings). When you shut down it moves them to the appropriate places. So if you've just turned on your computer and checked a site quickly, then you should be able to just switch it off at the plug (but if it all goes wrong don't blame me!)