To cause a computer system to “boot” or start up again. This generally involves shutting down and re-launching the operating system, which clears out all RAM, caches, and registers; shuts down any programs or background utilities that might be running; and returns the computer and the operating system to their default state. Any data in RAM that has not been saved to a hard drive or other storage media will be lost. Restarting may be necessary when a program crashes or hangs or the contents of RAM become corrupted.
