For a variety of reasons restarting simply good practice:
- Every time a computer is moved between networks (from work to home)
- After a significant amount of memory intense work (graphics, movies)
- Every time you install or uninstall software
- Before you contact tech support
- Once every couple of days.
Restarting helps by:
- Refreshing settings provide by the local network (at work or home)
- Clearing browser caches that store website you have visited
- Updating external security and monitoring services
- Clearing the memory from intensive work
- Implementing updates and upgrades
- Triggering updates and upgrades
- Reloading corrupt software
The concept that people can close and open laptops to keep working is false. Many laptops do not go to sleep correctly and can overheat. Also, when you move location, your local network settings need to change. Each computer is given an internal IP from the local router (typically a router in the workplace or at home). Arriving at work, your computer may still be using an IP address from home, and this will conflict with another device (like printers) being managed by the office router. Restarting will reset all these network setting and the office router will designate a free internal IP address.
Each network has an external IP (internet IP) that is tracked by cloud systems. Antivirus, Backup, and Monitoring software (Tresorit, Backblaze, VPNs, BitDefender etc) track these IP addresses. Sudden changes without a restart procedure can appear as security breaches. Restarting resets these conditions.
We recommend that all users get into the habit or restarting regularly and whenever there is a significant change.