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How to bypass pushing your computer "on" button

post #1 of 9
2/2/07 at 8:18am
Thread Starter 
I have my computer plugged into one of those power supply
switch stations that usually sit under a monitor. You know ---
those nifty lighted power centers that lets you switch on everything
at your command.

The process of turning on my computer is a two-step process. I
first need to flip the switch of my power supply station ON and then
press the ON/RESET button in front of my computer.

Is there any settings (perhaps in the BIOS) that will enable a
computer to be powered on by an external switch rather than
having to keep pushing the computer's front "on/reset" button
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post #2 of 9
2/2/07 at 8:31am

Re: How to bypass pushing your computer "on" button

Ron:
Yes, there should be a setting under 'power' in the BIOS that tells the PC what to do when power is restored. Tell it to turn on and you should be all set.
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post #3 of 9
2/2/07 at 2:43pm

Re: How to bypass pushing your computer "on" button

Most of the new computers also have an option in bios to turn the computer on when there is a key pressed on the keyboard. So that gives you another option to look for.
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post #4 of 9
2/3/07 at 3:14pm

Re: How to bypass pushing your computer "on" button

Are you talking about your Mac?

If so, you're not supposed to turn it off. Just put it to sleep and wake it when you need to use it. Turning it on and off is bad for it.

My Mac hasn't been "powered off" in 2 years.
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post #5 of 9
2/4/07 at 12:50am
Thread Starter 

Re: How to bypass pushing your computer "on" button

Actually, no, I was talking about my secondary PC....

but you bring up an interesting point.....

I am not supposed to power down my Mac? Doing so is
actually bad for it?

I'll certainly put it in "sleep" mode from now on.
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post #6 of 9
2/5/07 at 12:12am

Re: How to bypass pushing your computer "on" button

I've never heard that. Switching your computer off when you don't need it is usually good advice, and actually saves money and electricity. FWIW, I completely shut off all my computers (both PCs and Macs) every night.

Please show some sources why it would be bad for the computer. Hard drives stop spinning in sleep mode, so whether they spin up from waking the computer or from switching it on doesn't make a difference.

-Christian
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post #7 of 9
2/5/07 at 6:36am

Re: How to bypass pushing your computer "on" button

The question of whether power-cycling a computer is bad for it is pretty old. I researched this issue online for a previous PC purchase: my 486 DX266 back in 1993

The conclusion then and now is that there's no harm in turning off computers every day.

The argument is that power cycling places more thermal stress on a computer's hardware from the heating up process and the initial current surge during power on. But practically, it doesn't matter. My experience, from turning off my PCs every night is that after 6 years of use, for both the DX266 and its successor, it doesn't

Moreover, if the computer is entering a hibernate or sleep mode every night, it's experiencing thermal variations, though not quite as large, which would shorten its life under the same logic.

If you truly believe that powering a computer down does harm, the logical conclusion is to always have it on and running at a constant CPU usage level to maintain constant operating temperatures.



****

To Ron's question about using a hard switch to power off: this is not recommended for most consumer electronics, like TVs and stereo equipment. Even off, they maintain some small power draw to power clocks, monitor for remote control ON actions, etc. But for a modern PC, I don't know if it matters.
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post #8 of 9
2/6/07 at 12:34pm

Re: How to bypass pushing your computer "on" button

It makes no sense to me at all to shut a computer down. That's what sleep is for. When a computer is in sleep mode it only consumes enough electricity to keep the RAM powered and the wake sensor live, that's it. And yes, the initial current draw at startup taxes the power supply, circuit board and hard drives more than at any other time. Whether that translates to early failure depends on many factors, but why tempt it when it's completely unnecessary?

Couple that with the fact that the computer is ready to use in 5 seconds instead of 3 minutes, the fact that I can wake my computer by tapping the spacebar instead of hunting for the power key, I don't have to re-launch the apps I want and navigate to where I left them last...etc.

Not to mention that most modern computers run periodic maintenance during overnight hours and if they are switched off, they must run those scripts during other times which could interfere with other processes. Macs can actually wake up to perform maintenance and then put themselves back to sleep when they're done.

There is no reason to power down a computer regularly, unless that is you enjoy inconvenience.
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post #9 of 9
2/6/07 at 2:06pm

Re: How to bypass pushing your computer "on" button

Quote:
Originally Posted by RichP
It makes no sense to me at all to shut a computer down.

There is no reason to power down a computer regularly, unless that is you enjoy inconvenience.
I'm not arguing it doesn't make sense to always leave a PC on for computing convenience. I('m arguing that there's no reason to believe you must leave it on to avoid harming it.

Do what you will, as you wish. I just hope people make decisions based on facts, not fiction
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