QUESTION: What is the difference between SHUTDOWN and STANDBY in Windows? And which should I use?

ANSWER: Shutdown cause the entire computer to turn off. That means the computer's lights and hard drives, and in some cases, monitors. To shutdown, all programs and documents that you were using will be exited.

To get back to what you were working on requires a longer time for the computer to turn on. Then you have to start the programs you were using and then you have to open up the documents you were in. In most cases, you then have to find out where you left off.

Standby appears to shut the computer down but it actually records all open programs and open documents including the current position in the document before shutting down or commonly referred to as sleeping.

It does not take as long to wake up the computer compared to shutting it down fully, but upon waking up, it reopens the programs and documents and places you where you left off. Now if you use this feature on network documents, this can have adverse affects. It is not recommended for that.

Standby is recommended primarily for laptop users but anyone who has a lot of programs to open each day can take advantage of this feature.