There are several ways to trigger a restart, explains Derek Meister via email. If your computer has frozen or is giving off some other error, you should use Restart rather than Shut Down, even though it may seem to you that Shut Down would be a more complete option. Some software installations and updates actually require you to use Restart to finish the process. 'Restart should be used when installing updates/software and to resolve any errors,' Microsoft, the operating system's maker, explained in an email. That means you get a totally clean start when the computer boots up again, though it takes longer to get everything running. Restart, in contrast, actually does shut down all of the computer's processes, including the kernel, according to Tidrow.

'If there is something fouled up with a hardware driver or similar, the Shut Down process does not clear that out,' Tidrow says. While Shut Down and Fast Startup might seem way more convenient, there's one catch. 'The Windows kernel is saved to disk, similar to when you put your computer to hibernation mode, so that the kernel is ready to boot up quickly the next time.' With Shut Down, Windows 10 shuts down all programs and files you have open, but doesn't shut off the Windows kernel – that is, the core of the operating system, which enables the software and the hardware to work together, Tidrow says. The downside to this option is that not all processes are disabled from the previous session. 'By default, Windows 10 enables the Fast Startup option when a user clicks Shut Down, ' explains Rob Tidrow, the chief operations officer of Richmond Community Schools in Richmond, Indiana, and co-editor of the reference manual 'Windows 10 Bible.' (He's also written numerous other how-to books on software and technology.) 'This option allows Windows 10 to start up faster the next time a user starts Windows. But in Windows 8 and 10, that changed because of a new feature called Fast Startup, which is designed to eliminate what used to be that irritatingly long process of getting your PC up and running. In older versions of Windows, Restart and Shut Down did the same thing, closing down programs and powering off the machine.

Update and shutdown not updating