Imagine getting out of bed one day and running on a treadmill for 8 straight hours. Doesn’t sound like much fun, does it? It’d be a miracle for you to even make it through the day, much less get to the end still running!
Now, think about what it’s like to be your computer. If you turn it on and leave it running for weeks at a time, you’re never giving it a chance to rest! Sure, it has sleep mode, but the operating system is still functioning at some level. Eventually, it’s going to need a rest. That’s why you should shut down and restart your computer weekly.
The benefits of a weekly shutdown
More than giving your operating system and other components of your computer a break, a weekly shutdown has many other benefits:
- Shutting down and restarting will cancel any processes that may be stuck or running unchecked. This can free-up RAM and minimize problems with programs.
- If you’ve changed any preferences or uninstalled any programs, restarting will finish the process.
- You’ll temporarily reduce the strain and burden on components that are hot, allowing them to cool. This can help extend component life.
- Any updates that need to finish installing will be able to complete that process upon shutdown and run smoothly on startup.
- A shutdown will flush caches and RAM, restoring everything to a baseline when you start up again. It’s a great way to restore a little speed.
In many small ways, a weekly computer shutdown can have a big effect on PC health. Plus, it’s good for both hardware and software, making it one of the simplest routine maintenance tasks you can do.
Why weekly?
A shutdown won’t have the same effect if you do it every day. Waiting until the end of the week to restart is better because your computer has time to accumulate junk—things like temporary files, RAM processes and caches. Shutting down and restarting each week is a great way to get everything in one fell swoop, without inconveniencing yourself.
How to make things even better
Restarting your computer will bring about many benefits. But taking things a step further with PC cleaning will expand those benefits. For example, running a deep clean on your PC before you restart will remove junk that may still be present after the restart. This way, when you boot up again, those files won’t be present to cause you a headache.
Using a PC cleaner before a restart will also un-bog many of the processes that are slowing your operating system down. Before you even restart, you’re likely to see faster speeds. After a re-boot, you might not even recognize your operating system because it’s moving so fast! You’ll also remove the things a restart can’t solve, like corrupt registry files, temporary files, fragmented data and more.
Starting this week, try to restart your computer once per week moving forward. Shut it down, leave it off for 10 minutes, then boot it up again. You’re guaranteed to notice a difference. And, be sure to run a PC cleaner like MyCleanPC before you restart, to maximize the benefits!