Originally posted by: taltamir
1. there is no "light switch" on a PC
2. cutting power will not damage your hardware, it can only damage your data (that includes OS files, which could require a reinstall)
3. if he presses it, lets go, and then it does a "shut down" thing, that means windows registered it as a "shut down" command is doing a PROPER SHUTDOWN.
If it INSTANTLY cuts power, or if he holds it for 4 seconds and then the power cuts out abruptly, then he is actually "cutting power", for which see #2.
So no, he didn't break your hard drive, and it wouldn't be fair to force him to replace it.
Your nephew should stick to his XBox and forget about PC's until he matures a bit more.Originally posted by: zod96
My nephew is turning his computer off by hitting his light switch. Now it won't post past the bios screen. When I get into the BIOS it doesn't detect the HD. Can turn the computer off in this fashion kill a HD?
Originally posted by: Idontcare
Originally posted by: taltamir
1. there is no "light switch" on a PC
2. cutting power will not damage your hardware, it can only damage your data (that includes OS files, which could require a reinstall)
3. if he presses it, lets go, and then it does a "shut down" thing, that means windows registered it as a "shut down" command is doing a PROPER SHUTDOWN.
If it INSTANTLY cuts power, or if he holds it for 4 seconds and then the power cuts out abruptly, then he is actually "cutting power", for which see #2.
So no, he didn't break your hard drive, and it wouldn't be fair to force him to replace it.
I am interpretting the OP's comments to mean the computer is getting its power from an electrical outlet which is in a circuit with a wall mounted "light switch".
Turn off the light switch and power to the electrical outlet is killed...killing anything that was drawing power from that outlet.
If the computer is not plugged into some kind of line filter/noise protector or surge suppressor I can't imagine how nasty the voltage waverform is looking as the power surges into that PSU when a mechanical switch like a light switch is triggered.
Depending on the quality of the PSU, it could most definitely be sending garbage out in the 5V/12V rails and messing with the electronics downstream.
Using a mechanical kill switch like this to shut off electricity to your computer is just dreadfully awful...as mentioned above there probably isn't a worse way to treat your rig without involving liquids or blunt objects.
Originally posted by: taltamir
1. there is no "light switch" on a PC
2. cutting power will not damage your hardware, it can only damage your data (that includes OS files, which could require a reinstall)
3. if he presses it, lets go, and then it does a "shut down" thing, that means windows registered it as a "shut down" command is doing a PROPER SHUTDOWN.
If it INSTANTLY cuts power, or if he holds it for 4 seconds and then the power cuts out abruptly, then he is actually "cutting power", for which see #2.
So no, he didn't break your hard drive, and it wouldn't be fair to force him to replace it.