Turn it off and on again, safely
Restart a computer that has gone funny, and know when to sleep it.
The reason restarting fixes so much is worth having, because it turns a superstition into a tool. A computer keeps what it is working on in a short-term memory that empties every time it starts up. Programs leave things behind in there, and eventually they trip over each other. Restarting empties it. Nothing you have saved is in there — that is on the disk, and the disk is not touched.
Key points
- Sleep for short breaks, shut down at the end of the day
- Restart is a repair tool, not a last resort
- A slow computer almost never means a broken computer
What to remember
- Restarting lives behind Start, then Power, on every computer.
- Restart first. Free, safe, and it works more often than anything else.
Try this
Restart your computer tonight, even if nothing is wrong. It often feels quicker afterwards.
Practice: Turn it off and on again, safely. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.