When to Reboot XP

I just joined to ask reboot what computer he uses that never needs rebooting (read never crashes). I've worked with a few users who don't recognize when they should reboot, such as when something queer happens that they can't explain while the computer seems otherwise to be fine. I find that a soft boot will fix things, and I never hesitate to do a three finger salute. A case in point is a bug in all versions of windows that stops the browser (any browser) from downloading pages online, stating that it can't locate the page, and from then on it can't locate any page. A soft boot repairs the problem, while restarting the browser or logging off and back on won't fix it.

 

sparrow...I can't say that I have ever had that problem.
I run quality hardware, not going to get into the specs here, but it's researched, compatible, and leaning towards higher end, yet tried and true, not bleeding edge.
Also suffice to say that I have a LOAD of software on it (XP Pro Corp).
I use a 15 gig partition for XP, and it's only got 3 gig free.
I use it as a server 24/7, with 4 simultaneous sends, as well as multitasking it to a crawl almost every day. Video editing, audio editing, video encoding, burning, etc., all along with browsing, email, ftp updates to my site, etc. etc.
I run a second loging, simultaneously playing a game, or something as well.
It's not high end, but it's stable as he||, and that's the point. I don't crash. I had one BSOD the day I installed XP, and that was caused by outdated chipset drivers. My next restart will probably be after installing SP2, if I even bother with it.

BTW, current uptime is just shy of 1250 hrs.

 

I just paid a car mechanic $35 to completely disconnect my battery on my Oldsmobile, wait 5 minutes, and then reconnect it. Essentially, he reset the computer to correct some electrical problems. I could have (and would have!) done that myself, if I had known that the warning lights on the dashboard were not an indication of a more serious problem.

Memo to self, and anyone else who gets paid for doing tech work- they don't pay us for what we do, they pay us for what we know! The next time the lights come on, I will reboot the car before I go back to the mechanic.

Johanna

 

RE-Boot

I've read all the posts and cannot find
ONE that I completely disagree with.

The light bulb is a good analogy as is the light switch. Anything mechanical has friction and heat as does a HD. Could friction shorten the life of a HD? Keep the vents clean and the fins on the fan dust free, and probably not.

We all know better than to shut down using the power supply switch right??
What if the power supply(from the electric utility) goes out? Could be disasterous.

I power up 1st thing in the AM, reboot using reset, if I MUST, and power down when I go to bed.

So I guess "whatever turns you on" is the way to go. Joe R

 

Rehi all,

I appreciate the many interesting points made so far in this thread, and I'm still amazed that so many experienced people haven't noted the windows internet connection loss problem. We just received a new proprietary 3ghz p4 computer running xp pro at the senior center where I teach, and the only software we've installed is NAV, ZA, Mozilla 1.6, and paint shop pro, because we use them for teaching. The machine's on the internet (a cable always on wifi connected to four other boxes in a lab). We used it for an hour last week, and when we came back after a coffee break, the connection was lost and we had to reboot to get it back.

I'm first to admit that I really don't know what's going on here, but who does? Not even MSFT I suspect! I wouldn't blame "something ELSE ", however, given that the only consistent element in the several occurrences I have seen has been some version of windows running. And who will testify that MSFT's coding is always perfect? Especially given all the security holes others are finding frequently.

It's a fact that no flawless LARGE program has ever been written, by anyone, and especially not by committees. Even with their best efforts, programmers are at the mercy of imperfect compilers. It's unfortunate that most large programs are written in "high level" languages. I specialized in assembler for about ten years, and loved it, but there wasn't any future in it, for me anyway. Too bad.

 

OK. The original question was. When to reboot XP ?

My thinking about same.

Doesn't XP ( or any version of Windows ) need rebooting ( at least a soft reboot ) after;

1--Installing new or changing drivers.
2- Most software requires a reboot to work properly.
3- Changing Hardware I believe requires a powered down reboot.

Up until a couple of weeks ago when I found that some software was causing problems ( not closing down properly ) I had to soft boot XP Pro in order to get Links 2003 to work properly when playing Golf with our Friend in Canada.

Un-installed and re-installed said trouble maker and all has been well since. But the more I thought about it I believe that I did not do a soft reboot after installing it the first time.

I take that to mean that some software does not get so called registered properly without a reboot. I believe this applys to drivers also.

If XP ( or again any version of Windows ) needs rebooting other then the above, I think it best to find out why.

So. My bottom line thinking is that there are times when any version of Windows does need to be at least soft booted.

BillyBob

 

Exactly right. Every version needs a reboot now and then, usually after software/driver installs, and particularily hardware, because (hopefully) you have shut down to install said hardware

The adage, if it works, don't fix it, really does apply though.
If you have all your software installed, all your drivers up to date, all windowsupdates done, providing it's stable, there's no real reason to reboot (NT based) Windows.
You CAN, if you continuously update something, or install/remove software that requires it.

 

BillyBob and reboot,

IMO, you have summed up this thread perfectly. If you have to reboot to clear a problem, fix the problem. Otherwise, only when necessary for changes to set in, is it necessary to reboot a stable NT based Windows.

BTW reboot, no current uptime on your last post??

 

Current uptime: 1300 hours, 22 minutes, 19 seconds

 

" Current uptime:" - does that mean since last reboot? And what was the reason for the reboot? A windors error would fit my premise.
I call any spontanious event that requires a reboot a crash.

 

Rebooting XP question came up in Fred Langa's newsletter of LangaList Standard Edition 2004-03-25 :


Anyways I just want to know your take on rebooting or shutting
down XP. I know there are a lot of views on this subject but
what do you think?

I myself run 3 PC's...2 with Win2k Pro and I with WinXP Pro.
The 2 Win2k boxes are turned off until they are needed but
because I use my WinXP box 24/7 (on call so need PC operational
instantly). When I'm finished with the WinXP box I always
reboot, to refresh it, so it is at the password window when I
need it. ---Kent Bateman


Fred's answer:


So, if you don't *have* to reboot, how often *should* you reboot? Alas, like so many other tech questions, the only real answer is "it depends. "

For example, I have an always-on XP-based system here that primarily functions as a print, file, and internet-access sharing server. It also functions as an auxiliary PC when someone here just needs to jump online quickly or otherwise do some generic task in a hurry. That PC can literally run for months without a reboot; and when I do reboot it, it's not because of a problem with XP. For example, from time to time, I may have trouble with my cable modem connection. To ensure that the cable
settings refresh, I'll "release all" settings using wntipcfg (
http://langa.com/u/3u.htm ) and then reboot the PC and power-cycle the modem, just to be sure the cable modem is truly releasing everything and starting fresh. But I can't recall the last time I *had* to reboot because of a problem with XP itself.

On the other hand, frequent rebooting (as you do) does no real harm, and may be a little safer in terms of online and physical security because it shuts down all top-level apps and utilities.

On my own primary-use PC, I'll normally reboot a couple times a week. But that too is almost never because of an XP problem. It's a dual-boot system, and if I want to run Linux, I'll of necessity have to reboot to get out of XP, for example. I also run a DOS-based disk imaging program, and need to reboot for that. But normally, I never reboot just to "recover resources" or for the other many reasons that made reboots necessary in the days of Win98.

So: Reboot on an as-needed basis, or routinely. Either way is fine!


Regards - Charles

 

I would call that a crash as well, however, "current uptime" is exactly that, how long the computer has been running since it was last rebooted, restarted, whatever you want to call it.
My last "restart" was a warm reboot after my multiboot installation of Server2k3, which is still sitting there, untouched.
Previous to that installation, XP had been running for about a month straight. My next "restart" will be to boot to server 2k3, when I decide to play with it for awhile.
The words "crash" and "bsod" are not in my vocabulary. Never happens, never has, except for the one instance I mentioned above.

TonyT. I often do the same thing, manually clean up after a software install, never bother to do the restart.

My point, for those of you who can't read between my lines, is that a stable install of XP need never be restarted. Period.

Current uptime: 1320 hours, 14 min, 53 sec.

 

Guess you're going to have to change your username, Reboot.

 

been thinking .
Suspect we're talking apples and oranges: you run servers and I clients.
probably written by different programmers?

 

XP is XP. No apples and oranges involved here.

 

I've been monitoring my computer for years with Norton's utilities, watching cpu use, memory use, page file use, etc. and I have seen some of the evidence of crashes and "slowdowns ", and XP is not an exeption. I reboot on average daily because of memory leak (not necessarily the fault of XP, but neither corrected by XP. On booting, memory use is 16%, and after some hours af heavy use it goes to 55+%, so I soft boot.

Sometimes I've observed "lock-ups" shown by 100% cpu use as in a tight loop, also not corrected by XP.

I also reboot when I lose my web connection, in both 98se or XP.

Johanna, soft reboot can only be harmless to the machine, and reset can't be harmful either. Off-on restarting theoretically causes some ware, but the only harm I have seen in a computer from electrical surge was a machime I rebuilt that had been struck by lightning.

I have a new power supply waiting for me to install in my old faithful, but I hate to rush into it when everything is running well. The old power supply is getting weak, and I disconnected two drives to keep everything running smothly after it started acting up 2 years ago.

 

Hi sparrow,


*I have a new power supply waiting for me to install in my old faithful, but I hate to rush into it when everything is running well. The old power supply is getting weak, and I disconnected two drives to keep everything running smothly after it started acting up 2 years ago.*

LOL, am I reading this correctly? You give new meaning to "carefull" and "not rushing into things ".

Regards - Charles

 

I reboot on average daily because of memory leak (not necessarily the fault of XP, but neither corrected by XP. On booting, memory use is 16%, and after some hours af heavy use it goes to 55+%, so I soft boot.

Sometimes I've observed "lock-ups" shown by 100% cpu use as in a tight loop, also not corrected by XP.

I also reboot when I lose my web connection, in both 98se or XP.

Both 98SE and XP ????

Reads like somebody has some problems that need fixin.

Also reads like even if XP could fix them they would only come back

Driver problems maybe ? ( wrong or incompatable )

Two or more incompatable programs running ?

Too much ( or incompatable ) stuff running in the background ? This can kill the best of systems.

If on a Dial-up it could even be an IRQ conflict between say the Audio and the Modem.

Norton running ( especially AV ) in the background can ( and did ) cause mucho many problems.

I had some of the same problem untill I DUMPED Norton

For my own info I need to ask. Why should that 55% cause a problem ?

BillyBob