Damaging a computer

I have an on going debate with people in my family. Does it hurt a computer and its components to just turn off the system with the power button, as opposed to going thru the recommended shut down procedure? Sorry for the dumb question but I really would like a answer. I will appreciate the help. Thanks highflyer

 

It can have some bad effects. It may corrupt system files and lead to a troublesome boot next time round.
And welcome to MG :wave

 

Depends....On some computers, you can set it up to just do a normal shutdown when you press the power button (i've had it set that way ever since my 2yr old always wanted to press that blue button! ) .. but others will just shut down...My boss has always done that on his computer, and there have been many times when he "loses" some stuff, nothing important, but stuff like internet explorer/firefox favorites...things like that. Keep in mind, that while you may not know it, there could always be something running in the background (antivirus update/scan, windows update, etc) and by just shutting the computer down without letting those finish, could cause some problems

 

Yes that does cause damage to your pc. Hard drives are usually reading/writing and so the sudden power down would cause an issue. They may die over time or become somewhat damaged. It's safer to close all of the open applications running, and than doing a safe windows "shut down" procedure.


Good luck!

:wave

 

This is 100% correct. If the drive is in the middle of accessing data (and you may or may not know it's actually reading/writing) and there's a sudden and immediate power loss to the drive, you risk not only losing whatever data is being accessed, but corrupting other data on the drive, and perhaps physically damaging the read/write head and the motor as well. It is occasionally necessary to perform to a shut down this way (during electrical storms, during 'brown outs', or if a massive virus infection is noticed taking place) and in the event that I need to do this at home, I'll usually use the main swtich on the surge protector or the rear swtich on the power supply. If you MUST power down this way, at least watch the drive activity LED and try to power down during a period of inactivity.

 

Heres hoping you're on the side of a proper shutdown. ; )

 

Sudden power off :eek Not good....

You can change power settings in "Power Options Properties" so when the power button is pressed, it the computer will ask what you want to DO:major


Right click on blank area of screen/Display Properties/Screen Saver tab/Power/Power Options properties/Advanced tab/Power Buttons then select Ask me what to do

 

I just wanted to say thanks for your advice . I appreciate your help. Terri

 

the only time you would want to push the power button to turn off your pc is when windows lock up on you (by then you don't have much of a choice):mad.

 

Here's the reason a fast shutdown can corrupt your PC.

Windows likes to do things is a calculated way and often it assumes your not done with somethings and instead of saving the changes it holds the data in a memory cache waiting for further data. In this case, when you go thru the regular shutown you will see it says saving your settings or Windows is shutting down (during this period the cache is saved and any changes you have made are also saved). More often than not these settings are not critical, but if the cache happens to have system files in it your in big trouble. Even if you set your pc to "soft off" where it takes five seconds to shut down while you hold the off button, you can still loose your cache data as this is just a safety feature so if you accidentally hit the off button it will not turn the pc off unless your holding the button down. But after the five seconds, BOOM it goes down like a brick in fishbowl.

 

You also don't delete all the tmp files created during that days session of opening and closing programs if you don't shut down properly so in the end your HD fills up with cr*p. :cry