A Reboot may refer to any of the following:
- A reboot is restarting a working computer using hardware (e.g., a power button) instead of software. Rebooting is sometimes necessary after installing a software program, installing operating system updates, to recover from an error, or re-initialize drivers or hardware devices.
How to do a hard reboot
To perform a hard reboot or cold reboot, press and hold down the power button on the computer. After 5-10 seconds, the computer should turn off. Once the computer is off, wait a few seconds and then turn the computer back on.
- How to do a hard reboot.
- What should happen when I reboot?
- Where is the restart or reboot button?
- Why should I reboot?
- Hard reboot vs. soft reboot.
- What key combination allows me to restart?
- Reboot vs. restart.
- Erasing the computer and restarting over.
- Related information.
What should happen when I reboot?
When you reboot a computer, all open programs should close. Then, the computer should turn off briefly and then turn back on.
What if computer fails to reboot?
If the computer is frozen, or does nothing when attempting to reboot press and hold the power button for 10-15 seconds to turn off the computer. After the computer is off, wait 3-5 seconds and turn it back on.
Where is the restart or reboot button?
Today, many computers no longer have a reboot button. For those computers with this button, it’s found next to the power button and is often smaller than the power button.
Why should I reboot?
Rebooting a computer helps resolve many issues such as Internet connectivity problems, slow browser response, and software issues. Essentially, it “starts over” any code working improperly.
Hard reboot vs. soft reboot
A reboot may be a cold reboot or hard reboot, which means the power was physically shut off and then turned back on. It can also be a warm reboot or soft reboot, which means the system restarted without loss of power.
What key combination allows me to restart?
For PCs running Microsoft Windows, you can press Ctrl+Alt+Del (known as three-finger salute) to access a menu that lets you reboot or restart the computer.
Users should only perform a hard reboot if the computer is completely frozen or no picture is displayed on the monitor, as it may damage hardware components.
Reboot vs. restart
The term restart refers to an operating system closing all programs before a soft reboot. The image shows the “Turn off computer” prompt in Windows XP, with the previously mentioned Restart option.
These keys are the closest thing to a keyboard shortcut key to rebooting the keyboard. However, in Windows, you can create a batch file that reboots the computer and then create a shortcut to run that batch file. For help with creating a batch file to reboot the computer, see: How to shut down or restart the computer with a batch file.
- How to restart Microsoft Windows.
Erasing the computer and restarting over
Some may refer to a reboot or restart as erasing the computer and starting over. For information about erasing the computer and starting over, see the following document.
- How to erase my hard drive and start over?
- Linux users see the reboot command for further information about rebooting a Linux computer from the command line.
Related information
- Why does Windows restart without warning?
- How often should I reboot or restart my computer?
- How to shut down or restart the computer with a batch file.
- How to restart a Mac.
- How to turn off, restart, and shut down Linux.
- How to restart or shut down a smartphone or tablet.
- How to restart or shut down the computer in DOS.
Auto restart, Boot, Bounce, Cold boot, Hardware terms, Power cycle, Reset, Shutdown, Warm boot
