OurTechTip - Go Ahead, Reboot That Computer
by Robert Bolanos
Should I shut down my computer when I’m done? Depending on who you ask, and how long they’ve been working on computers, you’re likely to get a breadth of opinion and logic. In the early years of the personal computer, the power surge caused by shutting down the system and restarting could damage internal components and greatly reduce the life of your PC. However, as technology has advanced and manufacturing processes have improved, the risk of these shut down surges has been pretty much eliminated.
In today’s computer world, it is recommended that you occasionally shut down or at least reboot your system. Again, the risk to your system from the shut down surge is pretty much eliminated, and it will improve your system performance to restart your system occasionally. As software has gotten more complex and systems intensive, it tends to chew up a lot of systems resources, including memory. Even when you close a program after you are finished, Windows may still leave memory and resources allocated for that application. Open and close enough programs over a few days time and you can understand why your computer may be a little sluggish after a few days.
Also, some programs and applications, like Windows Update, anti- spyware software or your antivirus may require an occasional reboot to clean up your system and do preventative scans and updates. By not rebooting, you may be preventing these programs from fully protecting and updating your system, leaving you vulnerable to attack. Also, as utility costs climb, you can save quite a bit of energy expense by shutting your computer down (especially if you have a big CRT monitor) if you aren’t going to use it for a few days.
The bottom line is the risk to shutting down or restarting your computer is minimal if not non-existent today. And the benefit to be achieved through performance gains and systems security far outweighs any perceived risks. Save some energy. Save your system. Go ahead…shut down.
Robert Bolanos
All Things Computing
PO Box 916
Creswell, OR 97426
541.556.7564
www.atcsite.com
by Robert Bolanos
Should I shut down my computer when I’m done? Depending on who you ask, and how long they’ve been working on computers, you’re likely to get a breadth of opinion and logic. In the early years of the personal computer, the power surge caused by shutting down the system and restarting could damage internal components and greatly reduce the life of your PC. However, as technology has advanced and manufacturing processes have improved, the risk of these shut down surges has been pretty much eliminated.
In today’s computer world, it is recommended that you occasionally shut down or at least reboot your system. Again, the risk to your system from the shut down surge is pretty much eliminated, and it will improve your system performance to restart your system occasionally. As software has gotten more complex and systems intensive, it tends to chew up a lot of systems resources, including memory. Even when you close a program after you are finished, Windows may still leave memory and resources allocated for that application. Open and close enough programs over a few days time and you can understand why your computer may be a little sluggish after a few days.
Also, some programs and applications, like Windows Update, anti- spyware software or your antivirus may require an occasional reboot to clean up your system and do preventative scans and updates. By not rebooting, you may be preventing these programs from fully protecting and updating your system, leaving you vulnerable to attack. Also, as utility costs climb, you can save quite a bit of energy expense by shutting your computer down (especially if you have a big CRT monitor) if you aren’t going to use it for a few days.
The bottom line is the risk to shutting down or restarting your computer is minimal if not non-existent today. And the benefit to be achieved through performance gains and systems security far outweighs any perceived risks. Save some energy. Save your system. Go ahead…shut down.
Robert Bolanos
All Things Computing
PO Box 916
Creswell, OR 97426
541.556.7564
www.atcsite.com
