What happens when you use the reset button on a computer?

Answer

The switch causes the CPU to start back at the beginning of its instructions as if it had just been turned on. This can take it out of a condition where it is stuck in an endless loop.

Answer

When you reset the computer, it re-sets the functioning , i.e. the computer starts as if its being started again. There may be some data loss if the data you were working on was not saved by the operating system / user (Thats you)

In addition, it may cause your hard disk to crash.

Its avoidable though, but its like smoking, wvery one knows that its harmful but still people smoke.

Answer

The key about losing data, though is that only data since the last save will be lost. As the system will reset, anything that was stored in ram will be erased. Thus all recent changes will be lost. It does not mess your comp up", as the first poster so eloquently stated, but causes the CPU to start back at the beginning of its instructions, as the second poster said.

The danger is that most modern filesystems (ext3, NTFS, Rieserfs) journal data on the harddrive. This makes file IO transfer faster, as the journal resides in memory. The computer updates the journal in ram, and then transfers journal data to the hard drive at a later time. When the system is "hard-booted" by power loss or triggering the reset button, the data in the journal is lost. This can cause file corruption and data loss as the files may be on the hard drive in a semi-updated state.

It does not crash the hard drive, and it does not to any physical harm to the computer. It only has a risk of data loss depending on what the computer was doing when reset.

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