Does Restarting Numerous Times Stress the System?

I need to restart (not shutdown) my laptop numerous times for testing purposes. Does this put any additional stress on system components? I assume not since the laptop continues to run during the restart process, but I just wanted to make sure.

 

No it doesn't. Restart all you want.

 

On the other paw, why do you restart so much? If you're testing out software check out setting up a separate OS instance in something like virtualbox.

 

My laptop has a problem that only occurs when it starts up. Nothng major, but annoying just the same. I have some things I want to try to fix it, but the only way to see if it is fixed is to restart, hence my question.

 

No, it doesn't but it would (small however) if you were to shut-down each time as this would mean your hard drives spinning down then up, as the most sensitive to such on/off scenarios.

 

may i ask about your problem? and if you could fix in the fix? it would be nice to be information shared in public, so others with the same problem might find the information you've gained.

or if you have not fixed it yet, maybe we can help.

 

I had some issues after upgrading to IE9. The calendar gadget stopped working, and Windows Explorer would intermittently crash on startup. I did a system image restore to get back IE8. Now I'm planning my next steps which will probably include a number of restarts to try different solutions.

 

To answer your question, yes, it stresses the hard drive since a restart requires a lot of data to be read.

Practically this will not affect anything. So feel free to restart your systems hundred times a day,


--

 

reading data stresses a hard drive????

Do tell.........

 

Does the hard drive even spin down in a restart?

 

Yes, repeatedly re-starting or re-booting your notebook (or PC) imparts stress on your system. Ever notice when you boot your system that "whoosh" sound when your fans immediately spin up? Or when your system goes through its boot sequence and the mechanical switches on your Asus Xonar sound card start clicking?

The other fact to realize is that, depending on the amount of time between restarts, the solder on your components go through definite hot-cold-hot-cold cycles. This can adversely affect the soldering as it becomes brittle and eventually cracks which leads to faulty performing components such as your motherboard or your GPU.

In my opinion, repeatedly cycling your system needlessly puts undue stress on your system. However, if this cannot be avoided when troubleshooting, then there is nothing you can do about it. Whether or not a component fails because of repeatedly restarting your system is impossible to tell, but why take the chance? Sure, parts go bad all the time, but why hasten their fail time any quicker than need be?

 

I also hear that woosh sound when the laptop wakes up from sleep mode. The hot and cold cycles apply to sleep mode too.

 

jeez guys....

That so-called "whoosh" sound is the cooling fan going to high speed to verify function. Once the BIOS is satisfied that the fan is working, the rpm/speed will fall back down to the min necessary to keep things cool.

Stress doesn't have a single thing to do with it. Failsafe system design is what you're seeing/hearing.

 

Restarting or booting up can tax your system with a high power consumption but not more than it's designed to, so no problems.

 

i would say it depends, if you plan to keep your system for 15 years then yes, you can call it stress.

in my experience, mechanical stuff tends to bugger up before anything else. prime candidates: HDD, Optical Drive, and Hinges.

 

and fans especially. Seems unimportant, but if it goes, you can overheat everything else.

 

never had a fan fail on me if it was one of those frictionless ones