Turning It On — Startup, Login & Shutdown
9 levels · 4 phases · Levels 1–3 free
Power & Starting Up (3 levels)
Your Session (2 levels)
Ending Safely (2 levels)
When It Goes Wrong (2 levels)
A computer is never simply “on” or “off”. It has seven different states, and knowing which one you are in is the difference between losing an afternoon's work and not losing it.
OFF — nothing is running, nothing is remembered. SLEEP — the screen is dark but everything you had open is held in memory, ready in a second. HIBERNATE — everything you had open is written to the disk and the machine really switches off. LOCKED — running normally, screen covered, needs your password. SIGNED OUT — your programs are closed but the machine is still on for someone else. RESTART — off and straight back on again in one action. ON — you are working.
Machine state
- Power
- OFF
- Signed in
- nobody
- Open work
- nothing open
- Monitor
- on
- Wall socket
- on
This panel is a teaching aid, not something a real computer shows you. On a real machine you read the same facts from the lights, the fan noise and the screen.