How do I hard (SMC) and soft reset an Intel Mac Mini the right way ?

Hello,

I would like to know which are the right ways to reset an Intel Mac Mini.
It all begun a few months ago when my Mac Mini didn't make the regular sound when booting, so I searched on Google and did a so called PMU reset, which wasn't the thing to do it seems after all and the soft reset option + command + P + R at booting, which seems to have helped at that time. Recently my Mac was slower, had difficulties rebooting, applications crashed, all kinds of strange things. The PMU reset resulted in heavy fan noise and loud beeping this time without result. After some extra search it seems that the Mac Mini needs a SMC reset.

As described on the Apple web site:
1. From the Apple menu, choose Shut Down (or if the computer is not responding, hold the power button until it turns off).
2. Unplug all cables from the computer, including the power cord and any display cables.
3. Wait at least 15 seconds.
4. Plug the power cord back in, making sure the power button is not being pressed at the time. Then reconnect your keyboard and mouse to the computer.
5. Press the power button on the back to start up your computer.

It is not clear to me if you can reconnect all other cables when reconnecting keyboard and mouse (step 4). Anyway, I did exactly as written (only keyboard and mouse, no video or anything else), waited a few minutes after booting, then powered my Mac off, reconnected all other cables, rebooted and since then my Leopard (after reinstall) and Mac work as a charm. I guess that this is the hard reset and I hope that I did it the right way this time.

Besides that, in case of problems naturally, the only other thing to try is a soft reset: option + command + P + R ? Or does the hard reset also include the soft reset in a way ?

Thanks in advance for helping me out !

Beliarus

(Sorry for my English, I normally speak Dutch and French)