If you just unplug your computer
you lose any information you might have been working on, if you don’t save it.
Likewise, in any large, complex system, you can’t just pull the plug- provision has to be made for shutting things down in sequence, or there’s hell to pay. Some systems even have separate processors and systems that constantly update the memory- a Fanuc robot, for instance, if disconnected from power, will power up exactly where it left off and keep doing what it was doing as if it had never been interrupted.
Not all systems are like this, and the more complex they become the more disastrous to shut them down. In “2001 a Space oddysey” Dave has to disconnect the higher (and most dangerous!) functions of Hal without disrupting life support, navigation, etc.
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IIRC the Space Shuttle used old-fashioned iron-core memory for just that reason, you could kill the power, power back up and it would be right where it was when the power failed. Like my Dad always told me, if it’s stupid but it works, it’s not stupid.
I’m using VMWare at work to get XP functionality on a Win7 box.
I’ve had the Win7 lockup and have rebooted it without losing the virtual machine data that was open.
Daisy.
Daisy.
Daaaaaazy.
Daaaazzzzzzyyyy.
Daaaaaaaa…………
I service a machine that uses two windows based computers for interfaces and one linux/open source board to run the mechanic’s. Some service procedures require a shut down and every time it’s like playing Russian roulette. I never stop one without a complete NVRAM backup and a prayer. Design by committee = fail.
Where I used to work, early on we had PCs that used a ‘shipzone’ command to lock the read/write head in the drive; if you didn’t use it before you picked the thing up to move it, you stood a 30-60% chance of effing-up the drive.
Same thing happens if all you do is hit the reset button.
It’s sometimes better to endure the outrages of a system gone wonky than to reset and lose it all.
M
From my experience, if a system is capable of an orderly shutdown then it most often doesn’t need to be shut down and rebooted in the first place.
Wow, it almost sounds like we’re not talking about computers, or something.
Oh, sorry. You mean it’s not a metaphor? ‘Cause, if it is, it’s a good one.
M
Im just glad someone caught on.
But I use a Mac…. [/Ron Paul]