Device Health Starts With a Simple Restart

The Department of Information Technology at Seton Hall University works behind the scenes to enhance and maintain the technology systems that support students, faculty and staff. While Seton Hall's IT team ensures secure network access and optimizes essential tools, one simple yet impactful action users can take to keep their devices running smoothly is restarting them regularly.

It’s easy to overlook the power of a simple restart. Many people only restart their devices when something goes wrong, such as after a crash, a frozen screen or when prompted for a system update. But making regular restarts a habit can do more than just fix immediate issues. It can improve your device’s performance, security, and overall reliability. Here’s why restarting regularly is important:

• Ensures Updates Are Applied: Seton Hall’s IT team frequently deploys security patches, software upgrades and performance improvements. Restarting allows these updates to be fully installed, keeping systems up to date and secure.

• Improves Performance: Over time, software and apps can accumulate temporary files and cached data, which may slow down your system. Restarting clears out unnecessary data, allowing your device to run faster and more efficiently.

• Enhances Security: Cybersecurity threats evolve constantly, and many security patches require a restart to take effect. Regular restarts help protect data and the university network from potential breaches, malware and cyber attacks.

• Prevents Technical Issues: Many common IT problems, including slow performance, freezing, software glitches and connectivity issues, can be resolved with a simple restart. Instead of extensive troubleshooting, restarting a device may provide a quick and effective solution.

Make Restarting a Habit

Restarting regularly helps keep your devices running smoothly, secure and up to date. For laptops and desktops, a weekly restart or one prompted by a system update is ideal. Amazon Workspaces should also be restarted weekly or after major updates to prevent performance issues. Mobile devices benefit from a restart every few days, especially after installing updates for apps like Microsoft Teams, Outlook and Canvas.

To make restarting part of your routine:

• Schedule Weekly Restarts: Set a reminder to restart your devices before the start of each week to ensure smooth performance.

• Restart Before Important Tasks: If you have a big presentation, exam or virtual meeting, restart your device beforehand to clear out background processes and optimize performance.

• Power Down Overnight Occasionally: If you’re not using your laptop or Amazon Workspaces for an extended period, consider shutting it down completely to give the system a fresh start the next day.

• Update & Restart Together: When prompted to install system updates, take a moment to restart your device instead of postponing. This ensures updates take effect without delays.

Categories: Science and Technology