I apologize for the simple question: when numerous programs are minimized, I was told that each should be closed separately, rather than just shutting down before doing that. Does it depend upon the version of windows?
Thanks.
Mort Speck

   There are two reasons (that I can think of) why you should close all programs before shutting down Windows.
   One is that the programs may need to save information and just shutting down Windows may not allow that to happen.  It depends on the program as to whether this needs to be done or not.  I assume this is not a problem with you but you may at sometime forget that you were writting a letter or something like that and it may not get saved.
   The other reason is that if you don't close the programs, Windows will.  If a program cannot be shut down by Windows, Windows will hang up or abort the shutdown process and you will wonder why Windows does not complete the shutdown process.
   I just always think that it is a good idea to close all or most of the programs running before shutting down Windows.
   It usually is not a big problem if you don't close the programs, but you should definitely shut down Windows properly instead of just turning off the computer.