[Obsolete] The Reset button is used to restart the computer quickly. When the Reset button is pressed, called a Warm Boot, the computer shuts down but does not stop the hard drive's spinning. It then immediately starts up again. This saves time since if the hard drive is turned off, you must wait several seconds after you think it has stopped to be sure before turning the power back on.
In modern computers, this function is done from an operating system command to
Restart.
Recall from the lesson on Storage: Caring for Disks that restarting the hard drive too soon can damage it.
Sometimes it is necessary to do a Cold Boot, that is let the drive stop first and let the internals cool off for a bit before restarting, in order to clear up a computer glitch.