Picture it: It's the end of the day on Friday, and with only a few hours left until 5:00 PM, you are rushing to finish all your work on time. And then it happens... your computer starts to lag, programs begin to close automatically, and your cursor is spinning. You hurry to call tech support, and they first say, "Have you tried turning it off and back on again?". While this seems like a flippant question, rebooting a computer can solve many problems.
The biggest reason why turning your computer off and then on is because it clears your RAM, aka "random access memory." Think of RAM like a cache; throughout the day, you open and close tons of programs, and although you close out, RAM still stores the memory of your session. Your RAM has a set capacity, and when you run out of space, you start to have memory leaks. What is a memory leak? Let's start at the beginning; whenever you open an application, your operating systems assign it memory in RAM. When you close the program, the program is supposed to notify the OS, releasing the data stored in RAM. However, sometimes, applications don't want to release the memory, which causes your RAM to run out of space. The consequence is that sequential programs will lag, run slow, or even become inoperable. By restarting your computer, the RAM is cleared.
Rebooting your technology doesn't just work for windows but Apple, cell phones, TVs, Linux, and a variety of other software, like Google Chrome. Note: If your browser isn't working properly, clear your cache in the history and then, close out of the browser, then reopen it.
However, frequently restarting your computer may signify a more significant issue. Pine Cove Consulting offers IT Support Services to help you quickly resolve your technical issues. If you would like to learn more, email us at sales@pinecc.com or call us at 800.432.0346