Technology Advisor Blog

Have you been in the middle of a significant deadline with complete focus, then all a sudden your desktop shuts down abruptly causing your focus and productivity to cease? It happens to the best of us.

For many users, as mentioned in one of our recent blogs, the difference between shutting down a computer and restarting it feels minimal in the moment, but there is a stark difference based on performance and overall function of your devices. While both turn the system off to “fix issues,” both are usually intended to commence at the end of workday. However, from an IT operations and cybersecurity standpoint, these two actions behave very differently, and understanding when to use each one can significantly impact system performance, stability, and security. Small habits such as employees powering down their devices can make a significant difference to how their devices function the next day and throughout the next week. Let’s break down the difference, when each option is ideal, and why it’s important for your organization to know.

At Ekaru, our intent is to provide users with the most up-to-date cybersecurity practices that keep you business operations flowing optimally, while also identifying cyber threats so you can stay ahead.

What Happens When You Shut Down a computer?

When you shut down a computer, sometimes the intent is to reset applications that are not responding in hopes to bring back the flow of your device. The action appears that the device is powered off, but modern operating systems such as Windows don’t always perform a complete reset during shutdown.

In many cases, shutdown uses a feature called Fast Startup, which places parts of the operating system into a hibernation-like state rather than fully clearing system memory that may have caused things to slow down. This allows the computer to boot faster the next time it’s turned on, but this also means issues you had hoped to resolve can persist across sessions.

Best Practices of When to Shut Down Your Computer:

• Your computer will not be used for an extended period. This can mean overnight if you don’t bring your work laptop home, or at the weekend or even if you are traveling for a couple days.
• Even if your computer appears to be turned off, power may still be going through your device. In cases like this, power conservation is a priority for long term functions of your device. Its best to shut down if it is not in use.

Of course, there may be potential drawbacks to shutting down.

Let’s look at what may not be resolved from a shut down:

• System memory (RAM) or caches may not be fully clear. Sometimes we’ve come across devices that have slowed down from cookies from a handful of websites.
• The intent to shut down may be to increase speed of overall device, but background issues or errors can carry over, causing frustration for users.
• If you’re behind on system updates, that can be one of many factors in your device not working properly. Restarting (rebooting) your device for troubleshooting or system updates are required, rather than a shut down.  
• Like how your iPhone may not update overnight even if plugged in, pending updates may not apply correctly. While a shutdown is convenient, it’s not always correct. This can lead to an accumulation of performance problems that may not be resolved until you give your device a proper restart.

What Happens When You Restart a Computer?

A restart performs a full system refresh. The operating system closes all applications, clears memory, reloads system services, and reinitializes drivers from scratch. This makes restarting one of the most effective and simplest troubleshooting steps available. From an IT management perspective, restarts are critical for maintaining system health, especially in business environments where devices run continuously and handle sensitive data.  

When should you Restart Your Device rather than do a Shut Down?

A computer is running slowly or freezing. A computer functioning slowly causes frustration and stress if there’s a deadline that needs to be addressed. Shutting down does not resolve the way restarting your device will. As mentioned before, shutting down will not speed up your device, if you notice software or applications not responding, a restart may help more than shutting down. Applications not responding can be due to security patches, a restart can commence new security patches being installed to resolve issues.

Benefits of Restarting Regularly:

• Clears memory leaks and caches to clear up space for increased speed. This will also reset our network connection which can overall improves your performance and stability.
• You will be on top of security patches that come your way. For windows, security patches occur on Tuesdays, being on top of patching will help you become less vulnerable to cyber threats.
• At Ekaru, we recommend to restart (reboot) your computer at least once per week.  

Best Practice for Ideal Operations?

While the solution can depend on the context, restarting is usually more beneficial for day-to-day business operations. A good practice to incorporate into your week-to-week workflows would be to restart your devices at least once a week.

If you notice your device has an update needing to commence, restart. Use shut down only when the device is unused for extended periods of time, so your device isn’t drained even if it’s not using power.

Many issues that lead to help desk tickets, slow performance, application crashes, login problems, can be avoided simply through regular restarts.

Understanding the difference between shutdown and restart (also called a reboot) empowers employees to make better decisions and helps organizations avoid preventable issues.

When Users Restart Appropriately:

• Systems remain healthier and more secure
• Fewer support tickets are generated
• Productivity improves and your devices last longer

How Ekaru Can Help?

At Ekaru, we don’t just fix problems, we help prevent them. Our team monitors system uptime, patch compliance, and performance trends to ensure your devices are operating optimally.

We can assist businesses with their cybersecurity needs by:

• Enforcing automated restart and update policies.
• Monitoring systems that haven’t rebooted in extended periods for any suspicious activity, performance issues or security risks. Addressing them before they become larger issues.
• Educating employees on cybersecurity awareness that also touches upon best practices for their devices and identifying various scam attempts.
• Providing you with ongoing support and guidance.

Bottom Line:

If your business experiences slow computers, frequent issues, or inconsistent update compliance, the solution starts with the right strategy.

Contact us today to learn how our services can improve performance, security, and reliability across your organization. We’ll help ensure your technology works for you, not against you.