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Be Smart, Restart

March 5, 2021


A mouse arrow highlights the Restart option on a computer screen.



You should restart your computer at least once every week as part of your work routine.

Did you know that attackers discover new vulnerabilities every day in operating systems and software, which they can exploit to steal your data?

At Biola, our Systems Administrators review these new vulnerabilities daily, then identify any that affect Biola, and create a patch to fix the issue. In 2020, our Systems Administrators reviewed 19,249 vulnerabilities. Of these, 1,738 were identified as threats to Biola, and immediately remediated.

These patches are automatically sent to Biola computers behind the scenes. However, they are only triggered when you restart your computer. If you never restart your computer, you won’t receive these critical updates.

Just last week, attackers identified a critical vulnerability in Chrome. Google quickly released an update to fix the issue, and Biola’s Systems Administrators pushed an update to all Biola-managed computers. You should immediately restart Chrome or your computer to receive this update.

If you restart your computer at the end of your work day, everything will be up and running when you need it in the morning — Just make sure you save your work beforehand!

Be smart. Make a habit of restarting your computer to help protect Biola’s data.



Additional Benefits of a “Power Nap”

Just like humans, computers benefit from taking a break. In addition to receiving security patches, there are a number of good reasons to regularly restart your computer:

  • Improve performance: Restarting your computer will “flush” your RAM—the short term memory storage on your computer. This memory can get overloaded if it isn’t cleared out regularly. Restarting your computer frees up RAM, allowing your device to “start fresh” and run faster and more efficiently.
  • Software Updates: The OS and applications on your computer will usually download software updates automatically, but won’t install them until you restart. These updates can have new features and improvements you won’t want to miss.
  • Fix software bugs: There’s a reason the IT Helpdesk frequently asks “have you turned it off and on again?” Software is more prone to bugs when it has been running for a long period of time. A simple restart can solve most unusual glitches and bugs.

If you’re worried about losing your work, both Macs and PCs will re-open your software after a restart. Additionally, you can change your Chrome settings to “continue where you left off” every time you restart your browser.