Time for a Reboot

What should we do when we make a mess of our lives and Ctrl-Z isn’t enough to undo it?

You are staring at a frozen computer screen. Nothing happens, no matter how many times you click the mouse or how hard you bang on the keyboard. You move on to the last-ditch solution: reboot.

Rebooting is what you do when something goes deeply wrong — with either your machine or one of its key programs. You probably had to learn how to reboot a computer at some point, not because you wanted to, but because you had to.

If it’s a PC, you hold down three keys at the same time: control, alt, delete. PC operating system designers chose those keys because hitting all three requires both hands and some intentionality. They didn’t want it to be a key sequence you could hit accidentally. You don’t want to reboot if you don’t have to because you could lose any unsaved work — an important email, vacation plans or the best sermon you’ve ever written.

But sometimes there’s no other option. Rebooting your computer is your final, desperate choice...