Shutting off the computer completely: The waiting period prior to turning it
back on is more for the moving parts (i.e., the hard drive) to quit moving
rather than waiting to clear out RAM (memory).

As soon as RAM memory has power removed from it, it is cleared. There is no
capacitance effect that causes stray bits and bytes to linger.

There *is* a capacitance effect in other areas of the computer (which is why you
can stick your hand in the computer shortly after you've shut it off and still
get a buzz, depending on what you're touching). However, unless you're going to
be servicing your power supply (and you shouldn't) or cleaning your monitor
screen, you don't need to wait for the capacitors to bleed off.

The hard drive, on the other hand, needs to stop moving before being told to
start moving again -- purely a physical precaution.

All the above is predicated on the assumption that you have, for some reason,
chosen to completely turn off your computer, rather than restarting it. There
really aren't very many reasons, though, to completely turn off your computer.

1. Turn off your computer completely if you are a computer owner who wants to
turn it off each day when you are done with it.  In that case, the eight or more
hours before you turn it back on is quite a sufficient waiting period.

2.  Turn off your computer completely if your internal modem is clogged up with
random bits and bytes, and needs to be cleared out. Usually a restart will clear
up the modem, but sometimes completely removing power from the modem (by turning
off the computer) is necessary.  Again, I've never found more than about 10
seconds necessary.

3.  Turn off your computer completely whenever plugging in or unplugging a
device from the back of it. While complete shorts are rare, they can happen. I
know of people who have managed to fry a motherboard because they didn't want to
take the time to turn off their computer before changing keyboards or printers.

As for the "reset" button. The reset button, in a Windows 95 computer, has its
greatest value in restarting the computer once it has frozen up, when your mouse
and keyboard doesn't work, and when hitting CTRL-ALT-DEL has no effect. Hitting
the reset button is not a normal part of the Win95 computer maintenance routine.

The "normal" method of restarting a Win95 computer is to click your Start
Button, click Shutdown, click the circle next to "Restart the Computer" and
click Yes. This simple routine takes care of almost everything, with the few
exceptions I listed above.

Roxanne Pierce
R2 Systems, San Diego
mailto:[log in to unmask]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dave Schroeder [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 1998 05:56
>
>       On the subject of rebooting daily I've heard that when
> you shut your PC off completely you should wait a certain period of time
> for memory to clear itself up.  How long should one leave their PC off
> before restarting? I've heard anywhere between 10 seconds all the way up to 1
> minute.  What do you suggest to your students?  Is it just as
> efficient/effective if you were to press the reset button?