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

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

"Amy" <Amy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:02FE3783-3E59-479A-8BF1-ED8949710137@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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


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