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Does Refreshing your computer can really speed it up and make it work more efficiently ?
Welcome to Myth Buster Monday, Episode #24 where we burst tech myths every Monday. In this Article, we'll discuss what the 'refresh' option really does and why do we need it.

The Origin of Refresh

The concept of the refresh option first appeared in web browsers, with Mosaic being one of the early examples. This feature allowed users to reload web pages and update their content, ensuring they saw the most current version of a webpage.
Later, when Windows 95 was launched. This was a significant achievement for Bill Gates and Microsoft, as Windows 95 made personal computing more accessible and intuitive with features like the Start menu and taskbar. The seamless integration of MS-DOS and Windows in Windows 95 was a major advancement for the tech industry, and it quickly became a best-seller, solidifying Microsoft's position in the market.

Why Windows 95 Needed Refresh

Despite its success, Windows 95 had some issues due to hardware limitations and buggy code. Here are a few common problems:

1. Display Lag: Changes made to files or folders, such as creating, deleting, or renaming, sometimes didn't immediately appear on the screen.
2. Visual Glitches: Occasionally, the desktop or folder views would not display correctly due to minor glitches.
3. Icon Misalignment: Desktop icons could become misaligned or disorganized.

Although Windows had an auto-refresh feature to deal with these issues, it many times failed to work properly. The introduction of a manual refresh option was essential to address these issues.
The introduction of refresh helped to redraw the screen, fix visual glitches, and re-align icons.

The Impact of Refreshing in Windows

When you refresh your computer, the CPU performs a small task of updating the screen and the Windows Explorer cache. This action mainly updates the appearance of your screen and the cache. The RAM temporarily holds the data needed for these updates, which doesn't use much memory or slow down your system. The refresh action updates the cache memory, particularly the Windows Explorer cache, ensuring you see the latest status of your files and folders. The cache memory is designed to handle these updates efficiently, so it doesn't significantly impact your computer's performance.

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Since the introduction of Windows 95, the Refresh option has become an integral part of the Windows operating system and remains available in the latest versions. I hope you enjoyed the article! Let's continue the discussion in the comments—feel free to share your thoughts or add more information. If you liked this article, please give it a like and share it. I'll be back with my next article soon. Goodbye!

Informative thread brother 

Thanks for busting the myth  

Really informative, thanks for busting the myth

Nice