Usually when I haven’t come up with a good topic I sit and stare at my computer screen for a bit before an idea comes to me. Today wasn’t any different except the screen I was staring at wasn’t working as it should. After pushing the power button and waiting for the machine to restart this week’s idea hit me.
We find ourselves telling customers to power cycle devices all the time but don’t really explain why technology needs to be restarted. No matter if a phone is buggy, the television no longer has sound or a computer’s keyboard and mouse stop working, simply restarting the device is usually a quick fix. There’s some unexplainable magic behind that power button.
Every electronic device with more functionality than a simple on-off has some sort of built in logic. A toaster, for example, starts either a timer or thermostat when the bread is lowered with the switch. After either the timer or thermostat reaches its limit toast is ejected from the toaster.
More complex items use strings of actual computer code to process logical operations. Technology based devices have a processor, memory and storage of one type or another. Specific code sits idle in storage until the power button is pushed and the processor allows the code to systematically execute the list of commands.
Power cycling a funky device allows the code to restart and cycle a second time hopefully curing the initial ailment. Really what happens is the programming code is dumped from memory and the processor is cleared. Turning the device back on restarts all the processes hopefully without getting hung up at the same spot.
Computer code is a funny thing unto itself as it contains all sorts of parameters that may need to be met in order for a specific piece of technology to continue working. Last week we repaired an electronic rain sensor that wasn’t working properly when it became wet. We figured out one of the sensors had failed causing the internal computer to hang in limbo.
Because just about every modern device runs on computer code, failing electronics can be very dangerous. Some cars have moved towards a “drive by wire” design that puts a computer between the road and driver for most functions including gas and brake. One particular model was recalled due to a parameter in the car’s software that caused it to accelerate rapidly.
On occasion restarting an electronic device won’t be an adequate fix because of some other issue. I gave the example of a sensor or switch failing which will cause a program to halt until the error is clear. Occasionally we run across items that simply cost more to repair than replace and in this case the device should be replaced.
On the other hand, restarting some devices won’t fix them because of poorly written firmware or code. The Segway people mover was a great example; because of a glitch in the code users were violently tossed from the devices. Segway’s manufacturer fixed the issue by rewriting the firmware and updating all the units.
Incidentally, it’s worth taking a few minutes to power cycle electronic devices periodically. Even if devices seem to be running perfectly, sometimes clearing their memory will give technology a fresh start. I wish all issues could be fixed with a restart, that way clearing my head to come up with this idea would have been a lot easier.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can call him at (978) 919-8059 or visit www.LocalComputerWiz.com.)