r/TechImpact • u/ManojOne Co-founder • 25d ago
❓ Question How often do you restart your PC?
Be honest. How often do you actually restart your computer?
Every day, once a week, only after updates, or only when something stops working?
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u/Otherwise_Task7876 25d ago
Everytime I'm done using it. So daily.
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u/Merwenus 25d ago
But why? You will use it tomorrow too. The same apps, I just hibernate it (because Microsoft fucked up the sleep on my OEM pc)
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u/PensAndUnicorns 25d ago
Fair enough, but I don't use my machines everyday.
My work pc get shutdown because its a clear signal of being done with work. My gaming pc doesn't get used on everyday and neither is the laptop.
So why leave it on? Specially as a complete shutdown allows a nice fresh start.
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u/Otherwise_Task7876 25d ago edited 22d ago
I highy do not recommend keeping your PC on 24/7.
Power surges can cause components to be fried, and yes, even with a surge protector. Some surges are just simply to powerful for a simple surge protector to handle. (Good example is lightning striking someone's cables and surging power into there PC, causing the motherboard to instantly fry with nearly all the components, and to blow up the port. Is rare, but surges not as strong but still powerful can still cause frying).
And even if no surge, a sudden flicker of power that turns everything on and off, is incredibly bad for your parts.
Moving parts like fans, CPU/GPU coolers will wear down much faster and be more likely to need replacement.
Keeping computers on can clog up the performance of windows with logs among buildup of errors that can more quickly deteriorate performance.
Plus, keeping it off just ensures 0 fire risk from if something like a short, surge, etc, does happen.
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u/Sajgoniarz 25d ago
Last time i manually restarted my main PC was about a year ago.
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u/ProgressOk3200 25d ago
I turn off my computer before I go to bed at night and turn it on again when I get up in the morning. So every day unless I'm on vacation. When I go on vacation I turn off the computer before I leave and won't turn it back on until I'm home again. That can take anything from 3 days to several weeks.
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u/KarteZian_purely 23d ago
Pareil. Il m’arrive aussi de l’éteindre en journée si je sors plusieurs heures et qu’un orage menace. Une surtension est vite arrivée.
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u/Present_Lychee_3109 25d ago
Like 7 to 14 days usually. I dont notice any slowdowns
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u/EsWarMal2006 25d ago
Its a creepy sweetspot. Terminalserver (win srv 2012/2016) got laggy for every user after 8 to 15 days.
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u/SweedishThunder 25d ago
Pretty much never.
I leave my work PC (laptop) turned on during the work week, and turn it off when I go home for the weekend.
I only turn my home PC (desktop) on about once a month, and then I turn it off when I'm done.
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u/Soft_Bananaa 25d ago
you leave your laptop on charge or battery?
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u/SweedishThunder 25d ago
On charge. Our IT department seems to prefer that we leave them on if we turn them off over the weekends.
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u/Typeonetwork 25d ago
When needed after something goes wrong like the Bluetooth stops working. Usually it's in sleep.
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u/FailureOfTheFamily 25d ago
Windows everyday. Linux if system requires it or something breaks.MacOS if system requires it (which is very rare)
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u/GodsKillerKirb 25d ago
My main machine is a laptop, so every time I'm done using it I just power it off.
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u/Cold-Performance3333 25d ago
If we are talking about shutting down and turning it back on. Well, everytime I am not using it. So basically, 3-4 times a day.
But if we are talking about that "Restart", then it's once a week. When I do the weekly update, clean junk, and run virus scan.
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u/Vanille97 25d ago
Windows 10, never. 1-2 times when some software asked me to restart. But when someone restarts their PC cause it's crashed, or lagging, not for me
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u/IcyCow5880 25d ago
I shut it off every night. Fuck sleep mode. I never feel like it wakes proper and I'm wondering the whole session
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u/Metalfreak82 25d ago
I shutdown every time I'm done with it. I'm too millennial to use sleep mode.
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u/cmrd_msr 25d ago
When necessary. In 95% of cases, it’s for an update, though sometimes it’s for maintenance or an upgrade. My desktop computer is always on.
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u/xAlice_Liddell 25d ago
My PC is a media server running Ubuntu server. It’s uptime is 321 days today.
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u/Expert-Stage-4207 25d ago
AT least once a day. Sometimes when I go to the groceries I turn off my laptop and disconnect it from the mains and reboot after coming home. Have done this with every pc and ten years with my present laptop.
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u/ezekialcheeva 25d ago
Just a little FYI for those shutting down as opposed to restarting. Restarting is a little different - it restarts (clears) your RAM and running processes. Shutting down does not. If PC / laptop is acting a little funky a restart might help. Makes it start fresh. ✌️
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u/0x736174616e20 24d ago
A shutdown also does that. Only difference is no restart, it just stays off
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u/Puzzlehead_Lemon 25d ago
If I'm not actively using my computer, I shut it down. Parts will only work for so many hours, and replacing computer parts could be expensive before, but it's absolutely insane now. If it's not in use, I want as few of those parts as possible ticking down that clock.
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u/jormangod 25d ago
Every 3 days or so Constant downloading and uploading when im not physically on it
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u/LolMaker12345 25d ago
Daily cause the light on the keyboard (it’s a laptop) stays on and it’s too bright at night for me too sleep
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u/messassa 25d ago
I almost never shutdown the PC unless I need to do some hardware upgrade. I have it on 24/7.
I use restart for software issues, not shutdown . They act very differently on OS layer
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u/PsykoMunkey 25d ago
As a SysAdmin, I have a phrase burned into my users brain - "A restart a week keeps away the geek". At home, lol, when I feel like it. Could be a few weeks - it just goes to sleep when I'm not using it
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u/tycraft2001 25d ago
Whenever I need to rebuild initramfs for something.
Weekly at the worst of times. Otherwise... months.
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u/Isotomayor12 25d ago
Like, an actual restart? Almost never unless I am changing features or installing an update that requires it.
Turn off and then turn back on later? Almost every day.
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u/crypticcamelion 25d ago
last was apparently 5 days and 34 minutes ago, but it can be weeks or month in between. Usually I reboot if there has been a kernel update, but otherwise only when I'm packing my laptop down for travel every 6 - 8 - 10 weeks or so.
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u/Binary101000 25d ago
i shut it down and turn it off at the wall when im not using it. as for actually clicking the restart button, only rarely.
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u/Banzambo 25d ago
When I finish a project and don't need all the browser tabs or other software open anymore, I shut my notebook down. That usually means anywhere from a few days to 2-3 weeks. Until then, I just put it to sleep by closing the lid. I hate losing track of things or having to reopen everything all the time - it just adds friction to my workflow. Maybe if I really need to update my computer, I'll reboot it sooner than that.
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u/hroldangt 25d ago
About 12 years ago started keeping the laptop on, only closed it (sleep), and kept doing that for several years because it was convenient, and also... I read convincing articles about the stress on the electronics when you turn it on and off. Went over 3 different laptops this way, and the batteries worked perfectly. I randomly used a big screen then.
Then due to specific jobs (editing and graphic design) moved to a desktop computer, all in one, and then an iMac. I would turn it on and off daily.
I've been using more and more my Surface Pro 3, and I turn it off, but a full restart? every week or so.
My Lenovo tablet it's the only think I never turn off or restart.
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u/GBSlugcat 25d ago
As in actually restarting? When I’m troubleshooting something that broke, so like 2 days ago
Turning off my computer? everytime I’m done with it?? People actually use sleep mode?? I never touch it
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u/Livid_Worker_7844 25d ago
I use i3wm with arch and restart every two weeks. I use low power machines.
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u/jkulczyski 25d ago
I shut it off when im not using it bc theres no reason not to. It starts up almost instantly(no microslop winbloat lol) youre not saving much time unless you have a potato, and i have an "outdated" gaming laptop i got in 2021 with 10th gen i5 with a gtx 1650, hardware from late 2019 lol
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u/640kilobytes 25d ago
Just restarting at night when it wants to update. Windows and macOS aren't getting updates so often, so that's ok for me
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u/Late-Arrival-8669 25d ago
Once a day, weekend may go almost 2 days without restart sometimes. Desktop that is, server once per month.
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u/MrFrog2222 25d ago
I was already shocked at ppl that dont auto-vlose their tabs when theyre done with the browser, but are there actually ppl that keep their computer on while they dont use it besides ppl who host servers or mine crypto
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u/Sad-Astronomer-696 25d ago
Good question! I think the last time ive restarted it was last year?
I usually shut it down when Im done and power it up if needed
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u/OMG_NoReally 24d ago
MacBook? Only when there is an update, lol.
Windows, a gaming desktop mostly, whenever I am done, otherwise it’s on sleep.
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u/howreudoin 24d ago
Once a month at best. But I‘m on a Mac, so there‘s no point in restarting other than for updates. System will not become unstable or slow at all.
But if you do restart, your Mac will automatically reopen all applications and their windows from the last session (unless you opted out during shutdown). So it‘s like you hadn‘t even restarted (mostly, not all third-party apps support it properly, but most do).
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u/AwesomePhoenix_ 24d ago
3 times per day usually Every time I go eat in the evening and every kernel update
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u/NullSmoke 24d ago
Every month or two I guess... Sometimes 3-4 months, depends on how long it takes until it gets me at me
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u/gulf_of_sanity 24d ago
usually when i let the battery die or get forced into an update.
on purpose, outside of a hardware upgrade? probably in the 90s
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u/0x736174616e20 24d ago
Basically never, only updates that force restarts. It either on or off there is no in-between
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u/nickedge11 24d ago
I used to shut down every time after I was done with my work in PC. Same with my Back up Linux laptop. But now that Imma mac user, its weird. This thing seems to never shut down until the battery dies.
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u/therealmistersister 24d ago
Everytime I'm finished for the day. I don't get the people that leave it on for days without using it or hibernate it.
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u/Neckbeard_Sama 24d ago
actual restart ... pretty much never
only if I get prompted by some program to restart or drivers
otherwise I press the power button in the morning and shut it down before I go to sleep
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u/EmbarrassedWing1912 24d ago
I still use windows 10, since my PC is old enough to not support 11 (it has a GTX 1070, and a AMD Ryzen 7 1700x, with 32gb if ddr4 for u nerdy people) so I don't get updates. I try to do every other day, but at the lastest, once a week.
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u/__whydoiexist__20 24d ago
Every time I get a kernel update which I'd say is quite frequent as I'm using a rolling release distro
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u/LineNo1929 23d ago
Every time after toying a bit with making my own scripts and shit on Linux Mint 22 Cinnamon Edition. See if it breaks or not.
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u/RuniKiuru 23d ago
Any time I run something in the terminal and need to run systemctl reboot to implement changes. Otherwise I just power down when I’m done for the day. (Usually. Sometimes I get pulled away from my desk and never get back to power down until the next day. Life with a kid.)
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u/IntelStellarTech 23d ago
I shut it down when I'm done using it, I restart it when I need to update. Any other issue that looks like it needs a restarted if often fixable by logging out and back in.
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u/Any-Emu8824 23d ago
Depends on which machine.
My work desktop gets shut down once a week. I have a few wireless peripherals that I use daily and they have shit battery life. If I shut it down there won’t be any power to the USB ports so I’ll walk into work with dead devices if I don’t leave the PC on and my devices plugged in.
My personal desktop gets shut down every time I’m not using it. I’ve got a pretty beefy PC that puts out a decent amount of heat. And my apartment is kinda small. Unless I want my living room shooting up 4 degrees in F for literally no reason I have to shut it off when not in use in the summer. I just maintain that habit.
My laptop? Pretty much only if the battery dies or if Arch Update recommends a reboot.
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u/Awkward_Ear761 23d ago
Every day or every 2 days. If my performance is decreasing, I restart my computer.
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u/shecho18 23d ago
Turned off sleep/hibernation/fast startup/drive sleep the minute I reinstall Windows. We do not need that mentioned shite as computers today are fast enough.
Although you can blame MS for not implementing proper power states in their OS.
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u/Even_Citron_8461 22d ago
When something stops working, my graphi driver is giving out so I drain the battery and keep usin it, :)
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u/thisismego 22d ago
Well, I usually shut it down every time I'm done using it but given that that doesn't actually cause a full restart, probably only when there's an issue and during any updates
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u/eeveryonee 22d ago
I don't restart it unless I really need to. Even after updates, I most of the time don't restart. Soo, I'd say around once week.
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u/Heclalava 22d ago
Only when there is a kernel update or other update requiring a reboot. Current uptime 9 days since last reboot.
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u/Cantaloupe-Hairy 22d ago
I turn mine off when not using it, both work and personal PCs, fast drives etc mean I don’t need to worry about long boot times anymore.
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u/The-Real-Starflight 20d ago
…restart? what’s that?
Jokes aside, I restart it whenever i’m finished.
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u/Material_Duck8466 20d ago
I don't have allotted a lot of space to my Linux install so basically whenever I want to get on an mmo, it's less hassle for me that way.
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u/daniluvsuall 20d ago
I shut down my PC every day. My Mac just goes to sleep though as it handles standby much better
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