 vaxvmsferroequine fanPremium
join:2005-03-01
Wormtown
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| Why is it bad to reboot a Windows PC? I've seen posts here with people making the statement that they avoid reboot (restarting) MS Windows at all costs. Some postings seem to imply that powering off a computer running MS Windows would be like murdering a close friend.
I do not understand these aversions. My question to these people is Why do you feel it is wrong to restart the Windows operating system? Why the adamant attitude about it?
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i before e, except after c... weird? |
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davePremium,MVM
join:2000-05-04
not in ohio
kudos:8 | Dunno. I mean, I leave my computers 'on' all the time (though they're quickly in a low-power state: warm RAM, pretty much everything else suspended) but don't understand why people get all exercised about it.
There's an equally vocal bunch of people that say you should always shut computers down rather than suspend or hibernate. |
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LLigetfa
join:2006-05-15
Fort Frances, ON
kudos:1 | said by dave:There's an equally vocal bunch of people that say you should always shut computers down rather than suspend or hibernate.
Windows is buggy and reboots are often called for.
The first thing I always do when I get a support ticket from one of my users is to check the uptime. Most often a simple reboot fixes whatever is their issue. Often I refuse to work on the ticket if the user refuses to reboot.
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PX EliezerPremium
join:2008-08-09
Hutt River
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| reply to vaxvms
said by vaxvms:I've seen posts here with people making the statement that they avoid reboot (restarting) MS Windows at all costs. Some postings seem to imply that powering off a computer running MS Windows would be like murdering a close friend.
Is going to sleep, murder?
If they think that their computers are sentient, then my response would be that all sentient creatures need rest and/or sleep.
Geez, this isn't HAL from the 2001 story that we're talking about! |
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davePremium,MVM
join:2000-05-04
not in ohio
kudos:8 | reply to LLigetfa
said by LLigetfa:Windows is buggy and reboots are often called for. Apparently you must be using a different 'Windows' than I am. Between work and home, I never reboot except for Windows updates that require it.
This seems to reinforce vaxvms  's implicit point that there's a lot of superstition involved. |
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 plencnerbPremium
join:2000-09-25
Elgin, IL
kudos:2 | said by dave:said by LLigetfa:Windows is buggy and reboots are often called for. Apparently you must be using a different 'Windows' than I am. Between work and home, I never reboot except for Windows updates that require it. This seems to reinforce vaxvms 's implicit point that there's a lot of superstition involved. Now in the case of the older OS's (95, 98, 98se and ME) this was the case. If you did not reboot often enough, your system would grind to a crawl.
However, I feel that problem is no longer an issue. Unless an install of a new application requires it, or I am running my monthly install of security updates from Microsoft, I don't reboot, and I don't have any problems with my system, or any of the other 2 systems in my home. One of them is Windows XP, and it never has any problems if it is not rebooted for weeks.
Back to the OP's question, I really don't see a problem to reboot a system. However, I will say that if you are in a production environment, and the "Windows PC" you are rebooting hosts your SQL Server Database and that ties in to an application that is used by 500 or so users, and you "just reboot it" without proper notification to your user base, that would be "bad", but on a whole different level! 
--Brian
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--Brian Plencner
E-Mail: CoasterBrian72Cancer@gmail.com
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| reply to vaxvms
Have any of you reached the magic 1000 day uptime level on any of your Windows boxes? My current leader is an Exchange server at ~475 days. |
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 sivranOpera convertPremium
join:2003-09-15
Arlington, TX
kudos:1 | reply to plencnerb
said by plencnerb:Now in the case of the older OS's (95, 98, 98se and ME) this was the case. If you did not reboot often enough, your system would grind to a crawl.
Naahh I used to run my 98SE for weeks before rebooting. I discovered that I could do that after I stopped using two particular applications: ZoneAlarm and IE. 
Even so a month was about all it could take. 
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Think Outside the Fox. |
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moes
join:2009-11-15
Indianapolis, IN Reviews:
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| reply to vaxvms
I find if I do not reboot my gaming rig here that it's performance will take a dive, so a nice reboot once a month and it's fine and back to how it should be. plus something like corrupting my openGL and certain games will not run so I have to reboot in those cases. |
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I do recommend shutting machines off every night.
Even though sleep does use very little power being off uses even less.
If you have an older machine that is very slightly unstable or one that becomes unstable after a while because of memory leaks (looks at firefox) then rebooting will give you a fresh state every morning.
Other than that if it works perfectly for weeks on end using sleep, feel free to do that.
Alternatively you could use hibernate.
Some machines also do not like being in sleep and loosing power. So if you do let the machine go to sleep be sure to save all your work just in case. You could also use win7's hybrid sleep so the machine might be sleeping but if yu loose power it will boot up like it was hibernating. |
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davePremium,MVM
join:2000-05-04
not in ohio
kudos:8 | reply to vaxvms
It might be worth saying why I tend to leave machines powered up overnight:
1. Because that's when backups to the backup server get made - every day around 02:00. If they're not on, they don't get backed up.
2. Because that's when updates get downloaded (but mostly not autoinstalled, except on some lesser machines) - right after the backups.
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| reply to vaxvms
I just thought of something else...
If they meant reboot by turning the machine off, like switching it off from a power bar WITHOUT shutting it down first...
Now, Yes, THAT IS BAD.
You should always let windows (or any modern operating system) gracefully shut down!
Reply to Dave -
For 1 - the backup server will usually turn the machine on (wake on lan), perform the backup, then shut the machine down again. But if all of your work is stored on the server like it should be, then you don't need "wake on lan" in the first place.
For 2 - just change auto updates to when you want them to be performed and the machine will apply your updates when you shut the machine down so that's not a problem. I actually prefer this so that updates do not get applied till I'm ready but to each their own. |
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 JohnInSJPremium
join:2003-09-22
San Jose, CA
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| reply to vaxvms
said by vaxvms:I've seen posts here with people making the statement that they avoid reboot (restarting) MS Windows at all costs.
Agree that if they mean "force shutdown without shutting down OS is bad" that's true. You should let the OS power down the machine, as it will save anything that's cached in memory to disk cleanly. If you mean it's bad to do Start->shutdown, then no, it's not bad at all. You trade power savings for the time waiting for bootup. Nothing more or less.
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 janderso1JimPremium,MVM
join:2000-04-15
Saint Petersburg, FL | reply to vaxvms
On the Windows 7 PC I use to record TV I restart it every day whether it needs it or not. I also set the power plan so that the power button does a (controlled) shutdown.
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Jim Anderson |
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 John GaltForward, MarchPremium
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp
kudos:5 | reply to vaxvms
Some applications have memory leaks that affect performance.
A reboot resolves that, temporarily, until it leaks again.
Some people don't do system maintenance, so their drives are heavily fragmented and full of crap. It takes a long time to boot. |
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OZOPremium
join:2003-01-17
kudos:2 | reply to vaxvms
I reboot it mainly because of memory leaks. In a while (especially if I keep opened remote connections to other computers) memory leak becomes very noticeable and forces me to reboot. Other than that - there is no much reason to reboot (no program or OS updates, no new drivers, etc). It's WXP here, BTW. And memory leaking program is usually its Windows Explorer. I'm not against or for reboots. The only negative thing about it is - with such forced reboot I have to abandon my working environment (lot of running programs with unfinished work), which I'd prefer to keep otherwise... If I don't need computer, it goes to sleep.
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 Wily_OnePremium
join:2002-11-24
San Jose, CA | reply to vaxvms
said by vaxvms:I've seen posts here with people making the statement that they avoid reboot (restarting) MS Windows at all costs...
Why the adamant attitude about it? I've not heard anyone ever say that. Older versions of Windows got unstable and had to be rebooted weekly if not more often. XP and Win7 (never used Vista) don't have this problem, but a monthly reboot is usually the case since patches come out on that time schedule. |
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 MashikiBalking The Enemy's Plans
join:2002-02-04
Woodstock, ON
kudos:1
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| reply to Oedipus
said by Oedipus:Have any of you reached the magic 1000 day uptime level on any of your Windows boxes? My current leader is an Exchange server at ~475 days.
Before I retired my old windows 2000 server, I was at ~600 days. Since it sat around, and simply acted as a local file server I never patched the bloody thing once it was nice and stable. Back in the 90's one of the places I worked at had a NT3.1 server that had a 731 day uptime on it. Probably would have gone longer, but the UPS on it failed during a power outage, and so did the drive. Though nothing quite beat my old BSD 1.1.5.1 box, which ran until the HDD gave out. 1100 days. Poor old Quantum drive, so noisy as that bearing was going.
Anyway, as for reboots? Meh. The biggest problems seem to be craptastic drivers causing problems more than the OS itself. You'd think that WHQL would have "fixed" that...oh who am I joking? |
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 kvn864
join:2001-12-18
Glendale, AZ
kudos:1 | reply to vaxvms
well, going to reboot right now then .. |
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 Doctor OldsI Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.Premium,VIP
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30
kudos:18 | reply to vaxvms
said by vaxvms:I've seen posts here with people making the statement that they avoid reboot (restarting) MS Windows at all costs. Some postings seem to imply that powering off a computer running MS Windows would be like murdering a close friend.
You are talking about two very different events.
First event type, a reboot using the Start Menu is 100% normal and perfectly fine. It is needed for clearing/freeing up used resources from applications/programs that have memory leaks or applications/programs that don't properly return or release memory when in use or even after closing. It is also required for system updates that have to replace "in use" files during the reboot process.
Second event type, powering off a system that is running without using Start - Turn Off or Start - Restart by using a Reset button (if equipped on case) or a Power button is a improper shutdown event that can damage or corrupt system files, damage or corrupt the system registry and any other open files.
Is it safe to turn off a Windows computer without doing a shut down?
»www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000625.htm
quote:
Question
Is it safe to turn off a Windows computer without doing a shut down?
Answer
The short answer to this question is No.
Users should not press the power button or restart the computer while Windows is still running unless there is an issue with the computer. Microsoft has included the shut down feature because it enables a computer to go through all the all the necessary steps that are required before turning off the computer. In fact many versions of Microsoft Windows will check the computer for any problems if the computer is not shut down properly.
Although you may get away with turning off the computer without performing the shut down feature it is very likely that you will eventually encounter data corruption and other issues.
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