Should I shut down, log off, restart or put my computer to sleep?

Electrical goods used to be simple. Things were switched on, used for a bit and then switched off. Not any more.

Anyone looking for the Windows equivalent of the on/off switch – just up and to the right of the Start button – will notice that there are several options from which to choose.

And, although the temptation may be to plump for Shut Down, it’s not necessarily always the most appropriate choice to make.

In this Back to Basics we’re going to lift the lid on the different shut-down options found in Windows XP, Vista and 7 so you can get the best out of them.

The simple shut down
If all you want to do is turn off your PC, then everything’s pretty straightforward.

Windows XP users can click the Start button and click the red button labelled ‘Turn Off Computer’. After a moment, a new dialogue box will appear in the centre of the screen with three options: Stand By, Turn off and Restart.

As a reminder that the PC may be about to switch off, Windows XP dims the screen behind the dialogue box. To change your mind, click the Cancel button to return to the Windows Desktop.

Windows Vista users should click the Start button, move the mouse pointer over to the right-pointing arrow to open a pop-up menu and then choose Shut Down; Windows 7 users can just open the Start menu and then click the Shut Down button. Be warned – unlike XP, Vista and Windows 7 will attempt to turn off the PC right away.

 

If some applications are still running, an additional warning screen may be displayed. Either wait for the applications to shut down, click Force Shut Down to expedite the process (at the risk of lost work) or click Cancel to stop the process.

Those other buttons
Before we look at the various Shut Down menu options offered by Vista and Windows 7, let’s clear up what the other main buttons do in each version of Windows.

Click the Start button in XP and you’ll see another button labelled ‘Log Off’. Click it and two more options will appear: Switch User and Log Off.

If just one person uses the PC, clicking Log Off allows them to stop what they’re doing and exit to the Windows welcome/logon screen. If the machine is password protected (and it should be), this effectively locks Windows so those without a password are unable to access it.

If the PC is shared, with each person having their own Windows user account, clicking Switch User returns you to the Windows welcome/logon screen: from here, other people who use the PC can log on as usual.

What happens to whatever you’re working on? Well, if you chose Log Off, XP will prompt you to save any work first; selecting Switch User should keep everything ready – even if you haven’t actually saved it – for when you come back. But don’t use this as a substitute for saving, as a power cut could lead to problems.

In Vista there are two extra buttons. Clicking Lock, the one with the padlock, suspends everything you’re working on to keep it safe and returns to the Windows welcome/logon screen, where a password is required before you can get back in. From here, if more than one person uses the PC, other users can click Switch User, choose their account and then sign in.

On most Vista PCs, the red power switch icon invokes Sleep mode, which stores programs and open documents safely in memory but lets your machine doze off into a ‘low-power state’. To wake up the machine again, press the power button and Windows will resume.

Windows 7 only has a Shut Down button and the arrow icon, which, when clicked, opens a dropdown menu with additional options.