Cold boot

Cold Boot is the process of restarting a computer without having to power down its components. It is often used as a troubleshooting technique to reset the system memory and reload the operating system. During a cold boot, the computer’s internal clock is reset to zero and the machine’s BIOS is wiped clean.

Cold booting is also sometimes referred to as a “power cycle” or “hard reboot” and is usually used to reset a computer that has been experiencing hardware or software issues. It can also be used to erase data and start the machine from a clean slate before allowing its contents to be accessed.

Unlike a warm boot (also known as a “soft reboot”), which only powers down the central processing unit (CPU), a cold boot shuts down all components of the machine at a hardware level. This includes the CPU, RAM, network interface cards (NICs), and external devices. While a warm boot is a process of restarting a computer without removing power from the internal components, a cold boot involves completely powering down the machine’s components, waiting a certain amount of time for energy to dissipate, and then restarting the computer from a completely powered-off state.

Cold booting is usually a last-ditch effort to restore a computer to a working condition and should be attempted only as a last resort. It is important to note that a proper cold boot requires the device to be unplugged from the wall or power source, as some components may still retain power after the initial shutdown.