Remove Minor Errors

• It happens to everyone at some point or another in their computer-using lives; the machine starts acting strangely and ignores commands, refuses to open programs or see installed hardware. This could be caused by a variety of problems, including conflicting hardware, corrupted files or simply a "hiccup" in the way your operating system is communicating with the rest of the computer. Restarting your computer usually corrects these relatively minor problems, and returns your machine to normal upon reboot.
  
  

Cleans Up The System

• As you use your computer, whether surfing the Internet or working with programs, temporary or stray files appear. These files can start to clog your system, preventing your machine from running efficiently. When you reboot, your machine runs regular checks on all its hardware as it revs up. During this process, it deletes or moves any files that appear where they don't belong. It also cleans out any file remnants stored in the computer's temporary memory, or RAM.
  
  

Recovers From Lockup

• A lockup occurs for a variety of reasons, including conflicting hardware or software and possible virus infestation. In many cases, however, the lockup occurs simply due to the fact that you don't have enough RAM in your machine, which limits the number and complexity of processes you can run at any given time. The CPU, which is responsible for running all these programs and processes, relies on the system's RAM to help it do its job. If the RAM reaches the limit of its available memory space, the CPU cannot continue interacting with the program, which causes a freeze until the RAM frees up some space. A reboot will remove any information on the RAM, freeing the computer from the freeze and allowing you to resume your work.
  
  

Applies Updates And Installations

• Not all computer reboots are manually instructed, as the computer requires a restart to apply updates received for the operating system, or to finish installing a new program or piece of hardware. The computer is at its "freshest" when it boots up, which makes it the perfect time to finalize any new additions to the system without the fear of other programs or processes interfering or corrupting the data.