HOT 286: Shutting Down vs. Restarting Your Windows PC - Windows Fast Startup
Summary
Host Micah Sargent answers a listener’s question about why a Windows PC shows 41 days of uptime despite nightly shutdowns. He explains that since Windows 8, "Fast Startup" hibernates the kernel instead of fully ending it, meaning only a restart truly clears the system. The episode details how to force a full shutdown via command prompt or Shift+Shutdown, and advises restarting weekly to clear memory leaks and pending updates. Sargent also notes that the NSA recommends weekly power cycles for smartphones to evict in-memory malware.
Topics discussed
Sponsor: Trusted Tech Microsoft 365 Licensing
Introduction and listener question from Lorraine
Verdict: Shutdown vs Restart and the 41-day uptime
Explaining Fast Startup and the hiberfil.sys file
How Fast Startup works versus a full Restart
Why uptime continues during hybrid shutdowns
Checking uptime in Task Manager and verifying Fast Startup
Methods to force a true full shutdown
Sponsor: Delete Me business privacy protection
Disabling Fast Startup in Windows Power Options
How accumulated memory and drivers cause sluggishness
Phone reboot habits and NSA security recommendations
Final verdict and weekly restart best practices
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