Turning Off or Restarting a Server Computer While Users Are Logged On

The fastest way to blow your network users' accounts to kingdom come is to turn off a server computer while users are logged on. Restarting it by pressing its reset button can have the same disastrous effect.

If your network is set up with a dedicated file server, you probably won't be tempted to turn it off or restart it. But if your network is set up as a true peer-to-peer network, where each of the workstation computers-including your own-also doubles as a server computer, be careful about the impulsive urge to turn off or restart your computer. Someone may be accessing a file or printer on your computer at that very moment.

Before turning off or restarting a server computer, find out whether anyone is logged on. If so, politely ask him or her to log off.

Also, remember that many server problems don't require a server reboot. Instead, you can often correct the problem just by restarting the particular service that's affected.