3 ms·

386s had a push button power switch where if you were really fast you could let it out and immediately push it back in and the power wouldn't be interrupted. Fo

386s had a push button power switch where if you were really fast you could let it out and immediately push it back in and the power wouldn't be interrupted. Found this out in class - we would walk over to each other, lean over pretending to talk to a friend and sneakily push the power button in. Before we worked out that trick, you would have to get your finger on the button before the other guy took his off, then hold it down while you saved your work.

dragonwriter 9y ago
> 386s had a push button power switch where if you were really fast you could let it out and immediately push it back in and the power wouldn't be interrupted It would be more accurate to say “some computers in the late 1980s and 1990s”; not all of them were 386s, and not all 386s had this style of switch.
- lmilcin 9y ago
  It would be even more accurate to say "Many power supplies, especially when computers were much less power hungry, had enough capacitance to be able to survive 0.1 to 0.2s needed for the operator to reset the switch back on. This only works when the switch is switching AC and the motherboard stays connected to PSU. Since ATX standard was introduced the switch actually disconnects the motherboard from the power supply and it is no longer possible. Many power supplies still have independent AC switch but this is not typically operated by the user to switch the machine on or off."