Restart vs Shutdown: Fix Windows Glitches Faster (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Have you ever had a glitchy laptop, shut it down for the night, and woke up to find the problem was still there? It's because on modern Windows, shutdown isn't actually a full restart. Now, most people expect them to do the exact same thing, but behind the scenes, they're very different. And that difference is why restarting fixes issues when shutting down doesn't. If you don't believe me, you can check this on your own computer right now. Just hit control shift escape to open your task manager. Then click on the performance tab over on the left hand side and select your CPU. Down at the bottom, look for where it says uptime. If you shut your laptop down every single night, but that number says your computer has been up for let's say 5, 10, or even 20 days, that's the proof. Your computer hasn't actually had a full refresh since the last time you hit restart. The reason for this is a feature called fast startup. It's designed to make your computer boot faster by saving the state of the Windows kernel to your disk instead of fully reloading everything. Think of it like hibernating the core of the operating system. Now, of course, that's great for speed, but it means if something was wrong, let's say a driver issue, a network problem, or maybe a weird slowdown, shutting down just saves that problem and brings it right back the next time you turn it on. Restarting is different though because it skips fast startup and forces Windows to fully reload. Here's a simple rule to remember. If your tech is acting weird, Wi-Fi issues, Bluetooth not working, or updates not installing, restart it. Restarting is the only option that fully clears the slate. If restarting is for fixing problems, what are the other two buttons for? For most people, sleep is the default. It's built for everyday use. It saves your progress, wakes up instantly, and uses almost no power. Shutdown is actually the exception, not the rule. Save it for long hauls, say when you're traveling, storing your laptop for a few days, change settings, or maybe you're making hardware changes. If you really want your standard shutdown to act like a full reset, but without changing any permanent settings, there is a secret shortcut. Just hold down the shift key while you click shutdown. This bypasses the save state and forces a one-time complete shutdown. Now, if you want to fix this permanently so your laptop always does a full reset when you shut down, here's how you disable fast startup entirely. Open your control panel, click on hardware and sound, then power options. Over on the left-hand side, choose what the power buttons do. Then click change settings that are currently unavailable right there at the top. Finally, uncheck the box for turn on fast startup, and then save your changes. Now, for most people, it's honestly easier just to hit restart when things get glitchy, but now you have all the tools you need to take full control of your hardware. Here's the bottom line. If something is wrong with your laptop, restart it. Use sleep for daily use and shutdown for long breaks, but don't expect a standard shutdown to fix your glitches. Once you know that, those restart fixed it moments finally make sense. And since I want to save you even more time and maybe a little bit of sanity, here's one last shortcut. You don't even have to open up the full start menu to restart. Just right-click the start button, hover over shutdown or sign out, and you can hit restart right from there. Hey, thanks for watching. I'll see you in the next one.