How often should a Mac be rebooted?

Your real available memory is Free + Inactive memory. Although rebooting gives you more "Free" memory, Inactive memory is a cache of previously used things and usually speeds up your work flow.

However, errors can occur in memory over time and rebooting flushes them away. I like to reboot once a week and then run Disk Utility to verify my disk. If you are not using Time Machine this is also a good time to back up.

 

Unless programs or hardware are giving you problems I would just reboot whenever the computer asks you to due to a software update.

Personally would say everyday just because there is no need to have the computer sucking up electricity when you are not using it, I turn off my main desktop two or three times a day. Standby still uses power. I also flip the switch on my power strip cutting power to my stereo and other devices on standby.

 

There is no set time frame for a restart, so it is mainly dictated by the behavior and performance of your system or personal preference

Some system software updates require a restart, so you will of course restart then

Other than that, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, so to speak

I find myself restarting every couple of weeks
Usually after I have run VMware Fusion and Win7 just to flush it out of the system

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

In my case, I 'sleep' my iMac when I'm done for the day, but if I'm going to be away for a day or more then I do a shut down.

 

I reboot perhaps once a month, if then, or after a software update if it's required.

 

i reboot when ever there is a software update.. its pretty easy that way.. macs are hard and steady

 

Why? My 9-year-old iBook regularly pulls months of uptime with no ill effects.

 

I shut my systems down completely at night (even turning off the power strip to which they're connected) and reboot in the morning.

Less wear and tear on the hardware. And a "fresh start" for the OS each day.

It's kept this mid-2004 g4 MDD going with the _original_ system software installation (notwithstanding updates through "software update") for nearly _6_ years. Never done a "full re-install". No need to.

I don't use many 3rd-party system enhancements either. Somehow, things just work better that way...

 

So must you Mac users never turn your Mac off at all?

 

I have had my MBP for almost a year and a half, and it is only turned off to reboot when i need to (ie; software update or when i installed a new HDD). It runs all the time and I have had no ill effects. If something goes wrong, I have AppleCare. Until I am told differently, I will keep on doing the same thing.

 

I reboot at least once a day. I suggest the same.

Habitus

 

Well, there are occasional cases where software updates or installs will require a restart, but otherwise, not usually. My Intel iMac restarts whenever I want to run Windows, though.

 

Same here.

Except for using Boot Camp or system updates I never reboot my iMac. It is OS X after all, not Windows. There is no need.

At night or when I am going to be away from the machine I put it into sleep mode. This has worked fine for me with no related performance issues whatsoever in 4 years of Mac usage.