Ask HN: How often do you restart your computer?

#1

Post by gnicholas » Mon, Feb 19, 2024, 7:49 PM UTC

I'm old enough to remember the times when computers were restarted regularly, both out of necessity (many software installs required this) and for performance reasons.

For the last decade or so, the experts have said that we don't need to restart our computers. But I still find that my computer runs faster after a restart. I can see my CPU usage is much lower, and RAM is more available — even after I've reopened all of the applications I was using before shutdown.

I'm curious about how others approach this question. For the record, I have an M2 MBA.

Re: Ask HN: How often do you restart your computer?

#2

Post by wiwoworld » Mon, Feb 19, 2024, 7:52 PM UTC

Mine runs for weeks, sometimes even months before restarting. Linux user here :)

Re: Ask HN: How often do you restart your computer?

#3

Post by runjake » Mon, Feb 19, 2024, 7:53 PM UTC

Months. Usually when there's a new macOS update.

If it matters, I avoid installing third-party kernel extensions and any software that comes as a PKG.

Re: Ask HN: How often do you restart your computer?

#4

Post by LinuxBender » Mon, Feb 19, 2024, 8:02 PM UTC

How often do you restart your computer?

Every day. I power off anything I am not using after clearing out temp files. I get less dust bunnies and less power usage. I only power on a computer if I want to use it and leave the computers I am not using off.

Re: Ask HN: How often do you restart your computer?

#5

Post by h2odragon » Mon, Feb 19, 2024, 8:03 PM UTC

37 days uptime right now; since the last power blink. Reboots just to reboot; practically never. Config changes, maybe.

Re: Ask HN: How often do you restart your computer?

#6

Post by cpach » Mon, Feb 19, 2024, 8:03 PM UTC

M2 MBP here. Not sure, I think I restart like once a month or so.

Re: Ask HN: How often do you restart your computer?

#7

Post by gnicholas » Mon, Feb 19, 2024, 8:04 PM UTC

cpach wrote: post #6

M2 MBP here. Not sure, I think I restart like once a month or so.

Do you find there to be a performance benefit? It seems like everything runs faster after a restart, down to the latency on my BT keyboard. But the most noticeable difference is my CPU usage, which is at basically 0% after I restart, compared to 20% before, both when idle and with my normal applications open.

Re: Ask HN: How often do you restart your computer?

#8

Post by cpach » Mon, Feb 19, 2024, 8:08 PM UTC

gnicholas wrote: post #7

cpach wrote: post #6

M2 MBP here. Not sure, I think I restart like once a month or so.

Do you find there to be a performance benefit? It seems like everything runs faster after a restart, down to the latency on my BT keyboard. But the most noticeable difference is my CPU usage, which is at basically 0% after I restart, compared to 20% before, both when idle and with my normal applications open.

I see! For me, no noticable performance benefit.

Re: Ask HN: How often do you restart your computer?

#9

Post by MattGaiser » Mon, Feb 19, 2024, 8:11 PM UTC

Months. I have noticed the performance gap and when I peak at task manager/activity monitor, it is usually because I have left something running in the background. It might be Docker, might be Nginx, might be an updater.

I hate restarting, as then I have to reopen all my tools and restart everything all over again.

Re: Ask HN: How often do you restart your computer?

#10

Post by selectnull » Mon, Feb 19, 2024, 8:11 PM UTC

$ uptime

21:08 up 30 days, 23:09

M2 Air. Restart only after OS finally nags me down into an upgrade.