What is the proper method for powerup/down of pc? We have always used a surge protector with everything plugged into it. When we shutdown, the PC always shuts down from software control and powers off. Then we power off the surge protector at the main switch. When we turn it back on, we press the main surge protector switch. Everything powers up and the pc itself starts for 1 or 2 seconds. You can hear the fans and the hard drive start. But they immediately shut off, and we must press the power button on the pc. I should add that if you hold the pc power button just a little too long, it will immediately power off. Anyway, I have been told in the past that allowing the surge protector to power up, will save the button on the pc. I have been unable to have that actually work. Now, recently, the power button on the pc broke. Investigation indiacted that the plastic part that actually pushes the button inside the tower cracked on one side. I actually used a little duck tape to repair it temporarily. I am trying to get a replacement, but for 4 year old pc, that may not be easy. I recently been told that using the surge protector to power up the pc is bad for the pc. This really does not make any sense at all. Any ideas?
We used to do this all of the time at our office, using the protector to start everything up, and never had a problem. This is my home system. If I have not explained this sufficiently, please let me know, and I will try again.

leave the surge protecter on all the time (it will be ok) and use the power button on the pc that is what it is for

now for turning of ytou can do through the mouse i would never just turn off the surge protecter to turn off the pc because when you power down through the proper way the pc shuts down systems ijn a certain way but if you just flick off the protecter it does not have time to do this

hope this helps

Just to clarify, we do not power off system at surgeprotector. We use shutdown sequence to shutdown under system control. We then shut off at main surge prot. to stop power to all connected equipment.
Why leave all that equipment running for several hours every day when no one is using it? ( I used to work in a 7x24 mainframe shop where things were not shutdown from the day they rolled in the door, literally years. This is different, as I am paying for the power directly.)
Secondly, if that is not a good thinig to do, why do all surge protectors have power buttons?
Another explanation I once heard was that it would save wear and tear on the pc switch by using the surge protector, which is an inexpensive, replaceable device. The cost of replacing the small, poorly designed power button is as much or more than that of a decent surge protector. And that is just for the part. If I had to pay someone to install it, it would be vastly more expensive.

you said that you shutdown through the pc which is right you must boot up your machine using the little button as you put it

what i said about leaving the power surge protecter on you can leave it on all the time you dont need to keep turning it off if your computer is off it is not using juice unless you have other things plugged in to it

also have you thought about using the hibernate option in windows

if you need help setting this up please come back to me

hope this helps

Yes we have been using the hibernate capability of the system, if for no other reason than to avoid using the power button. It does work fine for the most part. We have discovered that we do need to reboot periodically however, just to keep resources cleaner. We can use the system controlled restart for that. There is something that I noticed however. Once a week, in the middle of the night, I have a schedule set to do a complete system virus scan. It takes quite a while, and is more convenient to do at that time. If the system is in hibernation, it does not wakeup for the scan. I must remember to turn off hibernation for that particular night.

The other issue about the power sequence, is that all of the system peripherals are powered up all of the time now also. I am just curious if anyone knows if that is better for them, or is it better for them to be shut down every day for several hours. Is it possible that cycling their power too often is actually harder on them than just leaving them on continuously?