Why Restarting Your Electronics Works

"Did you try restarting it?" It seems like any time you call a technician, this is the first question you're asked. 

This is a little secret of IT professionals... turning it off and turning it back on fixes 90% of technology problems. (Yes, that's a made up statistic, but it really does seem to solve a lot of problems.)

But, there's a reason. There is actual science behind it. 

Why restarting it usually works
Think of your electronics like a line of people completing a series of handshakes to make whatever process on the device occur. Thousands of handshakes have to occur in the right order, at the right speed, and at the right moment for everything to work correctly. If just one person in the chain of handshakes doesn't shake correctly, it won't work. Instead of trying to pinpoint the one shake that didn't work, we tell everyone to stop shaking hands and start at the beginning again. After restarting, it works. 

Think of all of your devices - like your computer, television, router, gaming devices, phone, and the like. There are thousands of processes that go on simultaneously as you're trying to operate it, and if something doesn't work, how do we track that one that little thing out of the thousands that isn't working? If we just restart it, a lot of errors in all those processes are cleared up. 

Another reason can be that the device has been "on" for too long. While electronics are turned on, things can change. As you open several tabs, applications, or different games, you leave "footprints" on your electronics. Sometimes these footprints get in the way of each other. By restarting your device, you clean up all the footprints and start with a clean slate. 

After you turn it off, why should you wait 10 seconds?
After you unplug, many devices hold electricity after it is unplugged. You'll usually see this with a light that will slowly fade away. You want to make sure that the device has been completely turned off and allowed to reset before restarting it.

When shouldn't you restart it?
Never restart your device when it is finishing an update. Sometimes updates can take awhile, but be patient. If it seems like things are not working as it should or an update is taking too long, reach out to our Tech Team for assistance. 

What do you want to know?

Tune in on KSDM 104.1 FM, KGHS 1230 AM, KGHS 95.3 FM on Wednesday at 8:40 am for the next episode of Tech Talk. 

Send your tech questions to info@smalltowntech.shop.