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Symptom:
Cause:
Solution:
Symptom:
Cause:
Solution:
A reboot is enforced.
Symptom:
Cause:
Solution:
Taken together, something stops working, which causes problems, and the fix is to start from scratch.
The root cause can often be attributed to human error. Computers are designed and programs are written by humans. If humans are fallible,
why should the things they create be without fail?All man made things have the capacity to be flawed and as a computers complexity
increases, so does the number of flaws. Now what exactly are those flaws?
In order to run, a program must receive some clay from the computer and it becomes the programs responsibility to account for all of that
clay. The ideal program would clean up the clay and return it to the computer when it finishes, allowing the computer to distribute the clay to
other programs in need.
Now imagine that there are 3 programs, each with their own share of clay. One returns all of the clay without issue. One leaves a chunk of
clay on the ground and only returns half of the clay to the computer. The last one loses its clay and returns nothing to the computer. Now the
computer has less clay to distribute.
Over time, as flawed programs fail to return all of the clay theyve been given, other programs need to wait longer and longer for their share of
resources. This is where memory leaks, program lag, and runtime errors come from.
So your computer has been running for a few hours and now itsslowed to a crawl (http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/slow-computer-4-waysto-speed-things-up/). If we assume that the cause is due to poor clay management (which it most likely is), then what can we do to fix it?
One solution would be to take away the responsibility of clay management from the programs and leave it with the operating system. When
the operating system detects lost clay, it retrieves it. The problem is that this process, known as garbage collection, can be processor
intensive and would impact operating system performance, hence its uncommon.
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Your WiFi router, for example, is run with software, just like your computer. A power cycle, i.e. completely turning the router off for at least 30
seconds, will clear its cache and reset the software.
Jerrold Foutz, an expert in the design of power supplies, offers another interesting view onhow a reset can fix electronic devices
(http://www.smpstech.com/mtblog/trouble_shooting_electronics.html), including household items:
In hardware, there are many causes for what is called a Single Event Upset (SEU). A power glitch, a cosmic ray passing through an
integrated circuit (IC), or an alpha ray from the plastic IC package, can all cause an SEU, possibly changing a logic state (1 to 0 or vice
versa), or triggering latchup in the pnpn layer most ICs have. In software, the computer can get caught in an infinite loop.
In other words, random events can put electronic devices into an odd state that renders them useless. Jerrold explains that one state which
all functioning devices can recover from is the power-off-state. And hence he recommends to turn the device off, unplug the power, remove
the battery, wait for a set amount of time, then plug the power back on and restart.
Computers are finite state machines that constantly need to monitor for events and respond accordingly. They operate on an infinite
processing loop (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_loop) to stay alert for new events, even when idle. Events can be anything from plugging
in a mouse to loading a program to shutting down. Each event leads to a change of state.
One reason for a reboot is that, depending on your operating system, the infinite loop cant be modified while its already running. Thats why
driver installations and Windows Updates often require a system reboot to change the way the operating system works at the most basic
level.Hopefully, you wont enter into aninfinite reboot loop (http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/fix-windows-7-infinite-reboot-loop/).
If an error affects this infinite processing loop, only a reboot can set it back to its known state, from where it will work again. Barring the fact
that computers lack consciousness (at least as far as we know), this is pretty much the opposite of what Einstein meant; the awareness
doesnt progress, its reset. So maybe ignorance is bliss would be a more apt analogy.
restarting.
Which devices and symptoms have you successfully fixed with a reboot?
Author Credit: This article was co-produced with Joel Lee (http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/author/joellee/).
Image Credit: Computer Comic via Shutterstock (http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=127574945),Woman with Clay by Marshall
Astor via Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lifeontheedge/5570116402/sizes/z/), Ctrl+Alt+Dlt via Shutterstock
(http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=95242360),Slate Board via Shutterstock (http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?
id=53976814),Einstein Quote by QuotesEverlasting via Flickr
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/quoteseverlasting/9425918674/sizes/l/in/photolist-fmWied/)
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