How Often Should You Restart Your Computer?

Our computers are just like humans, they sometimes demand a rest period. This is especially when you have not given them ample opportunity to take a break. If you regularly use your system, you would often get the prompt to restart your PC. The prompt can come while you are using the PC. They can also come in when you are about to log off your system. However, should you always react to this prompt? let us know How Often Should You Restart Your Computer?

How Often Should You Restart Your Computer?

Before you react to the prompt, it is important you know what is required. Most times, the computer would give that prompt if you just updated the system. If you want to complete your system upgrade. You would have to restart your system to operate at optimal capacity. The reason for this is that the files cannot be updated while they are still in use. While the system restarts, it swaps the required files to complete the update. Usually, this takes a couple of minutes.

How Often Should You Restart Your Computer?

When you restart your system, you automatically clear your RAM space. When you are not using your computer. The available RAM space does not deplete. This is because no applications or files are running at this point. There are instances where your computer can start lagging. This can be due to constant use. All you have to do is properly restart the system and you are good to go. 

After a hectic day at work, when you sleep your PC. The RAM remains used. Putting the system in sleep mode would not flush out your RAM. You should put your computer to sleep only when you want to continue where you stopped. If you get any restart prompt. Putting your system in a sleep mod would not solve these issues. 

You necessarily do not have to answer in the affirmative when you get the prompt to restart your computer. If it is to update the system, you need to clear pending assignments. You should finish your task first because it can take as much as 20 minutes. You might not necessarily shut off the PC. It can continue for a while. However, you can shut down if the system lags, or it requires an update. If you would not be available. You should completely put off the system.   

Frequency of Restarting your Computer

It is a popular opinion that you should regularly shut down your system when they are not in use. However, this is not true. The new crop of computers has been programmed to run on the clock. This would also help improve their battery life. If the batteries are not used on the clock, they might get weak. This reduces the viability of the batteries. 

One of the most common ways you can reduce the estimated useful life of a computer is by constantly putting it on and off. One of the most common ways a system can crash is when you are trying to start it up from a previous shutdown. If you put your computer in sleep mode. The chances of a system crash have been greatly reduced. Though dropping your system, spilling liquid, and overusing a computer are also reasons why it would crash. 

Windows Vs. Macs 

Another major determinant of how well you should restart your computer is the type of system you are operating. If you are using a MacBook, different regulations apply. For those using windows, there are some differences with those using Windows. If you use a MacBook, you do not have to constantly restart the system. The only time you would get a restart prompt on a mac is if there is a new update or a new patch for a known issue. You should read up on the contents of the update before making your decision about updating it. There might not be much different from the previous version. Macs perform better we put them in sleep mode. However, you can constantly switch off your MacBook from time to time. If your MacBook lags consistently, you can restart the system to flush it out and start afresh. 

Before you restart your system, it is important that you save all your essential work before you decide to log off. It is important you would not be needing your laptop when the process has been initiated. The update process usually takes a long while. 

It is not a routine that you often restart your MacBook. It usually happens whenever you are required to update your system. It can also happen when you just install new software. It might happen if there is a glitch or anomaly in the system. However, it has been a while this happened. 

If you constantly shut down your system. You are weakening the viability of the hard disk. It would also influence the power supply because of the jolt to life. The motherboard can also get affected by constantly shutting down your system. You should always leave your system on. You can leave it in sleep mode, and you are good to go. This would help the computer operate longer without any need to change any of the computer parts. 

Advantages of Restarting your System 

When you have to update your computer. Restarting the system is inevitable. The system would fail to update if you do not restart the PC. Before Windows can be allowed access to control the system. The whole process must be entirely completed. If you delete any virus from your system. You would have to restart the system to eliminate it. If you also update your system, you would have to restart it. If not, the update would remain pending. You would not see any results from the perceived updates. 

Hard Reboot 

There is a technical term called hard reboot. It happens when you put off your system, and it fails to come on. The steps depend on the type of system you are using. For manual shut down, push down the power button. If the laptop operates with an external battery. Readjust the battery, then try powering the system on. It is important to note that a hard reboot should only be used as a last resort. They are not essentially required. 

However, should there be a need for it? There you have it. Your system would need a hard reboot when it freezes while you are operating. It might also fail to run some applications. You would have to give the system a hard reboot. There have been some variations that hard reset should be done once every week to wipe off the occupied RAM. This would allow the Windows PC to clean its temp file and complete the update process. 

Factory Reset 

Just like your mobile devices, you can also put your system on factory reset. Although a factory reset is more thorough than a hard reboot. A factory reset would completely wipe your system clean. It is handy if you have any operational issues, or if your system has a faulty hard drive. You might be required to do a factory reset. When you do this, you would lose all the data you had on your hard drive.  

When you do a factory reset, you are automatically clearing everything on your hard drive. If it has not been backed up. You would lose all the data. Before you conclude that a factory reset is what your mobile device or computer requires. You should ensure you do your proper research. However, if you are doing this because of security issues, there is no need to look back. If you are selling the computer, you have to wipe out all the data before you hand it over to the new user. You should know that a factory reset might not be the solution. 

Conclusion 

How Often Should You Restart Your Computer? After carefully reading this article, you might have a different perspective about when and how to shut down your system. It is customary for most system users to often shut down their computers when they are done with the day’s work. However, this is not healthy for the computer. There are instances where you should not shut down your system. You should leave your system on even if you are done for the day. Before you restart your system, you should ensure that you understand the reason why before you do that. 

Frequently Asked Questions 

How often should you restart your system?
You can restart your system twice a week. However, the frequency of how you restart your system depends on the operating system that your system is operating on. If your computer is also having lagging issues, you can restart the system just to help you get back on track. 

How to complete your software installation?
If you want to finish your computer update and installation. You would have to restart the system to ensure that it completes the software application. If you fail to restart, you are at risk of still running a virus. 

Does restarting the system help to flush out the hard drive?
If you restart your system, you would automatically flush your hard drive. Whenever you operate your system, the files and applications take up space on the RAM. To reduce the space taken, you have to restart the system. After restarting your system, it processes faster and responds at a greater rate. 

How Often Should You Restart Your Computer?

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