– how does a computer prevent itself from fully shutting down when you restart it?

Question

– how does a computer prevent itself from fully shutting down when you restart it?

In: Engineering

Answer 1

Depends on the operating system and computer architecture that you use. First of all, it may be helpful to clear out the idea that restarting is somehow “less of a shutdown” than actual shutoff is.

* Per default Windows settings, a restart actually closes all processes, whereas a shutdown keeps Window Kernal (all windows operations and routines) saved and stored on a file, so than next time you turn on the computer, it simply loads from this stored file.
* A restart on the other hand actually shuts down the kernel and everything and clears it out.
* It is for this reason that whenever you do a software update, Windows directs you to restart rather than shut down.
* This is the default setting. To get rid of it, you need to disable “fast startup” in the windows settings. In my personal opinion this should never be be the default setting in the first place, because it is counterintuitive.

Now that this assumption has been cleared, to answer your question the actual “restart” and “shutdown” and “power on” are all a very complex steps of routines and processes. Both restart and shutting down does a whole bunch of steps like closing programs, disconnecting network, etc. Where they diverge is that eventually shutdown disconnects power from the motherboard, while restart never disconnected the motherboard at all.

It is for this reason that when something is broken, you get the classic “have you tried unplugging it and plugging it back in again?”. As an Electrical Engineer myself, I personally prefer a physical switch, instead of these small signal processes that are used to turn on the computer nowadays.