Why restarting computer

When the computer is restarted, the control of the processor is unconditionally given to the bootloader, and then it's handed off to the OS, which can start from scratch. It's no longer being dominated by the greedy program.

Yet another possibility is that the computer was overheating. Overheating, simply put, isn't good for the computer. Turning a the machine off and leaving it to cool for a few minutes couldn't hurt. In fact, some if not all computers are set to shut down if they reach a certain internal temperature. In summary, a restart puts the computer into a state where the right software is controlling the right possibly cooler hardware, in a state this is already known to work right.

The longer answer is that Windows has limited resources for applications to use Memory, Window Handles, File Handles etc. This causes problems with other applications. Obviously the same applies to all other operating systems too. I know this is an ancient thread, but I feel like this post by a Microsoft developer explains why:. Gradual slowness and other restart-needing issues can often be chalked up to memory leaks. Contrary to user's comments, this is still a very real problem in modern Windows.

In the latter case of running applications, it's often just simpler for an IT guy to say "just restart it", instead of "close all of your apps, check the task tray to make sure they're really gone, make sure they're not running any background processes or services I think that leaks and pending library changes explain the majority of the boilerplate-restart-troubleshooting out there, though. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group.

Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Why does restarting a computer fix things? Ask Question. Asked 12 years, 4 months ago. Active 8 years, 9 months ago. Viewed 19k times. Improve this question. RSolberg RSolberg 1, 3 3 gold badges 18 18 silver badges 35 35 bronze badges. And yes This was a lame ploy to get some rep on SU when the site launched Add a comment.

Active Oldest Votes. Improve this answer. Tom Robinson Tom Robinson 2, 2 2 gold badges 26 26 silver badges 41 41 bronze badges. Can anyone come up with a better but similar analogy? Yeah, restarting your computer is like scraping the burnt bits off the toast and putting it back in the toaster. What you described was reinstalling the OS ;- — DisgruntledGoat. In Windows Vista and newer versions of Windows, the Windows desktop will lose its fancy graphical effects for a few moments before regaining them.

Behind the scenes, Windows is restarting the malfunctioning graphics driver. While certain problems require a complete restart because the operating system or a hardware driver has stopped working, not every problem does. Some problems may be fixable without a restart, though a restart may be the easiest option. In all cases, a restart wipes away the current state of the software. When you restart, the computer or device will bring the system up from scratch, restarting all the software from square one so it will work just as well as it was working before.

When you think about it, both types of resets fix problems for a similar reason. Browse All iPhone Articles Browse All Mac Articles Do I need one? Browse All Android Articles Browse All Smart Home Articles Customize the Taskbar in Windows Browse All Microsoft Office Articles What Is svchost. Browse All Privacy and Security Articles Browse All Linux Articles Browse All Buying Guides.

Best Portable Monitors. Best Gaming Keyboards. Best Drones. Best 4K TVs. Best iPhone 13 Cases. Best Tech Gifts for Kids Aged Best 8K TVs. With the restart, the code was executed from square one and it would probably work fine this time. The magic of restart is applicable to most of the electronic devices like android phone, WiFi router or even the software running on Windows OS. Most of the instruction manual will suggest rebooting or resetting the device to bring it to normal.

Software programs, when kept open for a long time may start acting up. Closing and opening the software program again resolves the issue. Windows is running Slow — Most of the computer users tend to close the lid and put Laptop to sleep. The computer is not shut down for days or weeks which often results in sluggish response.

The computer needs nothing but the clearing of unnecessary junk on system resources especially RAM. Hence, a restart is the quick and working solution in this case. There are several other reasons for slow down and Restart does not work in all cases. This could also free up system resources and gain back lost speed. Though I have mentioned several times that Restart is a solution to fix most of the problems, but there could be a major problem underneath.

If your computer requires frequent restarts for normal working, it is not a solution anymore. You must investigate the real cause instead of temporarily fixing it every-time by restarting. To elaborate, the computer might need changing of the hard drive which has bad sectors on it or upgrading of RAM. Sometimes, software program also causes the problem which you can investigate using the Task Manager.