...
> Please can someone explain the difference between
> shutting off a computer using the power switch, then
> turning it back on, compared to pressing the reset
> switch?

If memory serves correctly, it is because of capacitance.  When you
perform a reset, it causes the machine to go through it's boot sequence
just as if the power had been turned on with the exception of the state
of the memory.  Whatever is in memory MAY remain there, thus it is in an
indeterminate state.  Data, program fragments, whatever.

> I read that if you shut the computer off, you should
> wait about a half a minute before turning it back
> on. I don't know if this is outdated info, and I

When the power is removed and left off for 10 seconds or more (cycling
power), then any residual electical charges left on the motherboard,
memory or peripheral cards are allowed to bleed off thus leaving
everything in a known default power off state.

As the machine reboots it uses various areas of memory.  Some software
will initialize the memory it uses to a known state and other software
will not.  If the memory is NOT initialized to a known state and the
software just uses the values it finds there, then the program's actions
will be unpredictable.  It would depend on how the software is written.
I don't know how much system software or other software you use at
startup is written in this way, but it would make a difference.

This is the way that I learned this stuff a while back.  This is
certainly not a technically accurate explanation and I don't know how
much of it still applies.  But since this is the kind of advice I still
get from tech support lines (cycling power as opposed to resetting), I
assume it still holds true.  If anyone has a clearer, more accurate
explanation, PLEASE correct me!
...
--
Larry Atlow                          Internet:[log in to unmask]
Microcomputer Analyst                Phonenet: (601) 264-9639

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