A few questions about programs

[Kieran10]

Hey,
I have a few questions about programs
After installing a game or program is it really necessary to restart or refresh the OS?
What would happen if I didn't do this and load the program up anyway?
Do I really need to refresh my OS every now and again?

Thanks
Kieran

 

[mwryder55]

Some programs require a restart of the OS because of the pieces that they load. Refreshing the OS is not required and may actually remove the program(s). Some people feel that they need to wipe everything out every now and then and start over and others don't. I have never wiped the OS on a computer in over 30 years unless it was infected by a virus or I was moving the computer from a 32 bit OS to a 64 bit one.

 

[aquielisunari]

After installing a game or program is it really necessary to restart or refresh the OS?

That's up to the developer. If it asks you to restart your PC it's a good idea. Some programs such as Equalizer APO won't make changes on a new device unless a reboot is performed. When installing drivers it's always a good idea to restart your PC when the installation(s) are complete.

What would happen if I didn't do this and load the program up anyway?

That will vary from program to program. Some may have some features that won't work while others will work perfectly. Blanket statements don't really work in the world of PCs, usually.

Do I really need to refresh my OS every now and again?

No. Let's assume someone has had their PC for a couple of years. If they perform the right maintenance their PC can be just as fast as the day you built it or purchased from the man. Think about a small county fair. It has a ride or 3 and maybe a couple dozen booths. From shut down to ready for business doesn't take long at all. Now we are at the world's fair. There are 27 rides and 150 booths. It will take a longer time to get ready. The world fair can be likened to one who downloads programs they want without any care or concern. Download with care? Program needs a hug before shutdown? Not exactly. If one clicks Start and types msconfig or they use a program like CCleaner they can see their Start Menu. That PC likened to a World's fair has 38 non-critical programs that start when Windows does. They constantly run in the background. They wonder why startup takes 45 seconds. Why their PC feels sluggish. Their caches hold over 100GB of trash. They have very little space on their HDD and only uninstall when they get a warning about running out of space. They know how to turn on and turn off their PC apart from their day to day use of it. https://lifehacker.com/5435523/you-dont-need-to-regularly-reinstall-windows-heres-why is yet another perspective.


Then Windows updates my computer and breaks the (censored) out of it.

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

My policy is to restart if prompted to do so, otherwise I don't bother.

If you are prompted to restart you can bet there's a good reason why that's necessary - - and if you've got a well-tuned system it shouldn't take more than 15-20 seconds to be back up & running (except for those annoying Windows updates), so what's the big deal?

If your restarts seem to take an eternity you probably need to do some investigating, or switch to an SSD as the boot drive if you haven't already done so. Restarts will then be a breeze.