Computer restarts in an average day?

[G. Couch]

On an average day, how often are you forced to restart your computer because of a lock-up, memory issue, crash, etc...?

[T Paul]

Since I switched to XP I am really not forced to restart my computer (and I don't own a MAC), but I usually restart it at least once a day by choice, especially if I have been working on a lot of graphics and in a lot of programs. Guess I just like having a clean slate when I sit down to do a lot of work. ~T

[d_kendal]

I have yet to actually need to restart Linux, but when I'm running WinXP it's become pretty stable and I usually only have to restart every 3-5 days.

- David

[G. Couch]

I generally restart once a day to "get a clean slate" as T says....and about twice a day due to the system locking up or crashing. (Win ME)

One strange thing I have noticed...every time my computer is on the verge of locking up, I notice that the Microsoft Mouse driver is using an inordinate amount of memory...sometimes on the order of 200 mb!!

[BigAl]

Seldom to never on both my win98 and win95 machines. I shutdown both of these machines when I'm finished for the day.

[clare]

I rarely restart my computer, I am using Xp.

When I used 98 I had to restart it all the time, normally because it crashed. I did use a program (that I cant remember the name of at the moment) it kept your ram clean by constantly checking that a program was not leaving data there that did not need to be left in the ram, and then clearing the excess. My main program that used to do that was photo explorer.

I have not had these problems since using XP and have not got the program on my computer now.

[jerry]

I must restart 1 to 2 times a day using win me..I also am always getting weird not responding errors with stymon these usually dont lock the computer up..I think XP is in my future but I worry about hardware compatibilty issues with XP.

Jerry

[angue]

Don't even get me started.
I have XP over Me. After the upgrade I had to reboot at least once everytime I start up. That is everytime I turn on the computer I could not even get to the start screen. I have to attribute this to incompatible drivers or uncertified XP drivers.
Everything is better now. Not perfect but better than before.
At work, I make it a point to reboot after lunch (Win 98). Just as a precaution because Win 98 is notorious for memory leak.

[chris h]

Rarely, XP and 2K seem to shrug off problems that had 98 going down in flames
Would be interesting to see the results of this poll 3 years ago.

[Ed_L]

I've been running XP since January. I rarely need to restart, and I have had 3 hard lockups since I've been using it. In my book, there's no comparison between XP and Windows 3.1, 95, and 98.

Ed

[winwintoo]

Interesting question. I haven't given lockups and restarts much thought lately. I have two Macs - an iMac desktop and an iBook laptop. I run OS9.2 on the iMac and OSX on the laptop.

The iMac which is my workhorse computer rarely has a problem. Any lock-ups I've seen lately have been on web pages. I've never tried to figure out what the problem is - if a page locks up the browser, it doesn't get a second chance.

I don't use the laptop very much, so can't speak for the reliability of OSX. The problems I've had with it are related to the so-called "classic" environment.

When you consider the millions of lines of code in any operating system, it's a miracle that they work as reliably as they do.

Take care,
Margaret

[DJ Dubovsky]

Well, that seldom option seems kind of prejudiced to Macs. I don't have a Mac but since I went to XP I hardly ever need to restart. I do loose my optical mouse on rare occaisions for no apparent reason but my pen still works to restart. But that's basically the only trouble I get.
DJ

[winwintoo]

Hi DJ, I had a Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer and it would freeze frequently, causing me to reboot (actually several reboots to get it back each time)

Then out of frustration one day, I unplugged the darn mouse and swapped in a different one. The second mouse worked so I tried the MS mouse again and it worked. The solution - when the intellimouse froze after that, I unplugged it and plugged it back in again without rebooting and it always came back.

No longer have that particular problem - new computer, new mouse, new graphire tablet - all works nicely together.

Take care,
Margaret

[DJ Dubovsky]

Mine's an IBM but I suspect they're all the same. I'll have to give that a try Margaret. Thanks. Now all I have to do is find out where exactly in this mass of wires it's located. We have 3 computers, 3 printers, 2 scanners and numerous other goodies plugged onto hubs and ports etc. It's a hardwired mess of confusion. However a few moments to trace the end sounds like a lot less hastle to do than reboot each time. Actually, I didn't know you could do that.
DJ

[winwintoo]

DJ, you can unplug it if it's a USB connection - I should have mentioned that. If it's not a USB connection, don't unplug it while the computer is running.

Take care,
Margaret