You have been turning off your computer wrong - here's how to do it properly

If you hold down the power key on your laptop, you could damage your hard drive

Sophie McIntyre
Thursday 07 May 2015 11:18 BST
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You are probably shutting down your PC the wrong way and could be damaging your computer in the process – tech experts explain the best way to do it.

Most of us use the mouse and menu button before clicking ‘shut down’; however, there is a faster way, according to the pros.

This technique is also significantly safer for your PC than holding down the power key on your laptop, which could frazzle your hard drive.

Instead, you should just tap(no need to hold down) the Windows key and then click the right hand directional arrow, then return.

Using your keyboard could be quicker

This will then shut down your computer and end your programs, for Windows 7.

If you have Windows 8, or another version which the above technique doesn’t work for, you should click on the desktop and hit Alt-F4.

According to tech pros, Ghacks: “While you can use mouse and keyboard to shut down Windows, you can achieve the same goal using the keyboard.

“This is often faster as you need to hit a combination of keys without touching the mouse at all.

“The main issue here is that the sequence is different depending on the operating system you are using.”

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