Newbie Guides A Trouble Free PC Shutting Down The PC

Shutting Down The Computer

Windows 95, 98, 2000 and NT all provide a correct method to shut down a computer. Turning off power to your system while it is still running can be a disaster. Using the Start Button gives the system time to flush caches, close files, and save configuration information before closing power to the system.

If you do not use the Start Button and choose Shut Down to turn off the computer you will see a message saying that Windows did not shut down properly. If you see this message and you did use the Start Button to close everything, something is wrong with your system.

Sometimes when your computer does not respond to your input (after several minutes) you may be tempted to reach for the power button. Before you do this try <CTRL>+<ALT>+<DEL> three keys that when you press down and hold will bring up a 'close program' window. You can then highlight the program that is not responding and 'end task'. If this works you will be presented with another window asking you to confirm that you want to end the program that is not responding.
Do not play about with this feature if you do not fully understand it. Keep it for emergencies.

ATX (modern) systems completely shut off a computer and therefore you do not see the message 'It is now safe to switch off your machine'. The message does appear but because the machine switches off immediately, you probably will not get a chance to see it. On AT machines and older systems it is necessary to actually switch off the computer with the power button.

Computers are built to be left running all the time. If you have advanced Power Management enabled on your computer then you can simply switch your computer to standby or sleep mode. On modern systems that use ACPI every compatible device will be able to switch on and off at the control of the operating system and BIOS. More information about ACPI can be found here. Details about the ACPI and the BIOS can be found here.

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