Why does switching a computer off and then on again usually work?

[Twodogs]

OK so my iPad wouldn't connect to my phone and I couldn't use the Internet. I ask my son to switch the hotspot on his phone on but it wouldn't connect to that either. So it's obviously something wrong at the iPad end of the operation. So I did the first thing the tech would ask you to do when you rang a IT help desk and switched my iPad off and on again and it worked fine.

Then it occurred to me that switching your device off and on again almost always works but I don't know why? Is it because a software file is waiting to be downloaded?

[hujsh]

Re: Why does switching a computer off and then on again usually work?

I think sometimes there's shit running in the background that causes problem x or y and turning it off is easier than trying to narrow down the specific program/process that's causing the issue. Probably less likely that there's something to be downloaded but possible if it's been a long time I guess.

[Twodogs]

Re: Why does switching a computer off and then on again usually work?

I think sometimes there's shit running in the background that causes problem x or y and turning it off is easier than trying to narrow down the specific program/process that's causing the issue. Probably less likely that there's something to be downloaded but possible if it's been a long time I guess.

So there's an issue that has developed and the device just needs some "me" time to sort it out?

[hujsh]

Re: Why does switching a computer off and then on again usually work?

More that it needs a blank slate. Close everything and you'll probably get the problem causer.

That's more a guess from me though. I work in kind of IT but have no training or qualifications.

[Twodogs]

Re: Why does switching a computer off and then on again usually work?

More that it needs a blank slate. Close everything and you'll probably get the problem causer.

That's more a guess from me though. I work in kind of IT but have no training or qualifications.

That's OK, the longer you spend in the workforce the less you come to rely on people's qualifications. They are great to have but I'm not going let somebody's lack of them stop me from listening to them because experience is just as important.

And there is a class of people who exist simply to get qualifications. They have no interest in working in the field they qualify in (or any field) as soon as they qualify in one field they set of to qualify in another.

[boydogs]

Re: Why does switching a computer off and then on again usually work?

Computers keep a memory of what you've done since they last started up to make them easier to use. Like remembering what you've already logged in to so they don't ask you again. Sometimes they run into problems using this, which can be difficult to diagnose with the many thousands of tasks they performed leading up to a fault. Restarting clears this memory so you're starting from scratch again

[Twodogs]

Re: Why does switching a computer off and then on again usually work?

Computers keep a memory of what you've done since they last started up to make them easier to use. Like remembering what you've already logged in to so they don't ask you again. Sometimes they run into problems using this, which can be difficult to diagnose with the many thousands of tasks they performed leading up to a fault. Restarting clears this memory so you're starting from scratch again

That makes sense. So the computer keeps a memory of every action you perform and sometimes one of them cracks just the sads and refuses to work with the other.