I thought I restarted already!

Are you shutting down your laptop or computer daily, only to have IT audaciously ask you to restart it? You’re certain you’ve already turned on your device that morning. Well, there’s a valid reason for this request, and the following summary explains it:

Why does a shutdown not work?

The answer is in a change Microsoft made to the way Windows shuts down. A new feature called “Fast Start” introduced since Windows 8. It takes over the shutdown of your system and logs the user off but saves the state of windows systems and services much like going to sleep. This vastly improves start-up times however it does not apply important changes such as updates or software installations.

Why Restart?

Here are a list of reasons why a restart helps you;

    – Closes all programs removing any redundant or ‘stuck’ processes.
    – Refreshes System memory which over time gets larger and larger slowing your device performance
    – Applies updates and changes to ensure your device is secure and compliant, non-compliant devices are restricted or otherwise                      blocked from using company data.
    – Reset Hardware State which can help hardware in negative states get out of a loops or other faulty situations.

Thoughts and considerations for laptops!
If your using a laptop, there are common misuses of your device that can prevent a restart from completing in full. Its good to note that the following can halt a restart and prevent your applications from starting up properly next time you use it:

1. When you do a restart, if you close the laptop lid during you will likely cause your laptop to sleep. This will halt the restart process
2. A restart needs to get back to your windows logon screen to fully complete, check and make sure the device fully shutdowns and boots itself back up to the logon page before doing a final shutdown. 

Summary

CenCom Recommends that you restart regularly, if you do not have time during the working day we would suggest that you restart at the end of a day and let the system run overnight which will also allow it to do other maintenance tasks which would otherwise run during the day such as antivirus scans and installation of other software updates.

Remember! – A restart is like doing a deep clean of your house! A shutdown is more like going to bed and leaving everything as is.