Power cycle

[GS-DK]

Hi

Sorry for a stupid question, but what does it mean to power cycle the computer

thanks in advance

GS

[Extreme Mixing]

Shut down, turn everything off. Then turn it back on again.

Steve

[philter]

Is a simple 'restart' not considered a power cycle?

[DMR]

The term "Power-cycle" is open to (mis?)interpretation. It is probably more accurate to differentiate between a "warm boot" and a "cold boot".
A warm boot (Restart) will reinitialize the computer, which may clear up higher level problems, but it does not fully shut down power to the entire system. This means that some cards (network cards come to mind) may not get fully cleared. Also, a restart won't reset peripherals which are not powered by the computer.By shutting the computer down and powering off any peripherals for a few seconds before restarting (a "cold boot"), you can be pretty sure that everything will be properly reset.
(Actually, even when the computer is "shut down", there is still a standby voltage being supplied to the motherboard. This is what allows the computer to be turned on from the soft switch on the keyboard. To *really* shut down, you have to unplug the beast )

[This message has been edited by DMR (edited January 24, 2001).]