Various Windows XP questions

[Dodge7]

A few Windows questions I have wondered about..

If you just turn off Windows by the hard power switch, rather than doiing a shut down, is it that serious? Other than losing icon location data and such, it is going to hurt anything?

If Windows XP is *pre emptive* multitasking, then why do CD drive operations slow or temp freeze the computer [I have noticed this on many Win XP computers].

I heave heard it said that XP can only utilize about a half Gb of mem at the most, is this true?

[hitchface]

I have an answer to one question at least:

Its a bad idea to just flip the switch. There is a reason that proper shutdown exists, and that is so that you don't end up corrupting files, among other things. When your PC runs you have various objects running that are integral to the operation of Windows. If they don't get terminated properly (automatically done by the windows shut down procedure) they can become corrupt, preventing you from doing a whole lot of anything in some cases. Moral of the story is to just shut it down properly. It isn't worth the risk to save a few seconds of your time.

[glc]

The half gig is for Win98. XP can use up to about 3 gigs very effectively.

[hitchface]

You mean that I could have 4 gigs of RAM and the thing will chew up 3 of them? Man, that had better be some solid performance.

[glc]

It's not worth putting more than 2 gigs into a 32 bit OS. When you upgrade to 64 bit Vista, then go for 4 gigs or more.

[Dodge7]

Thanks Hitch and GLC.

[Johanna]

There are times that hitting the button to shut down is unavoidable, but it should be rare, not a habit, and usually done because of a problem. Windows likes orderly shutdowns.

XP likes memory, but it's only going to use what it needs. If you are doing minor tasks, you won't even come close to using all your RAM, if you have a gig or better. Despite what MS says, 512 Mb is about the minimum XP needs to run efficiently. Less than that, and you will notice a decrease in performance. But if you have sufficient memory, and are running intensive programs, XP is still only going to use what it needs, not hog the maximum memory installed.
Johanna