What is a reset button?

errr... resets the PC  

if for any reason during normal use or failed boot up the reset button can be used to reset / reboot the PC

It puts the PC back to the same condition as when you turned the power switch on.

like it resets the bios/clear cmos or it just restarts it becouse ive never had a case with a reset button and wondering what to do with it. could i put it on the clear cmos pins as a clear cmos button

if by the clear cmos pins you mean the 3 pins with the jumper then no. you need two of the pins to be connected for normal operation. the reset connector only shorts the reset pins when the button is pressed. not to mention you have to move the jumper to the 3rd pin to clear the cmos.

There are two types of resets..

A hard reset and a soft reset.


A hard reset reboots the machine to a functioning state as if you were to switch it back on after a period of the machine being off.

a soft reset - pcs in dos had a CONTROL - ALT and DELETE function which rebooted the machine within software hence a soft reset. Control Alt Delete brings up Task Manager in windows now from 2000 upwards and it allows you to stop programs from functioning which have crashed.

these are the options