[Merged] Why Click Refresh

[Tom Thomas]

very simple question.....

Why should we click Refresh (right click ) every now and then in Windows OS but why not in Linux ?

What does Refresh Command do ?

Technical answers appreciated....

[puja399]

It does nothing other than redrawing or repainting the screen/active window, and is generally used to arrange icons/files which have got scattered over the window/screen.

However, most often than not, u will watch some people (who call themselves 'Computer engineer' and are usually engaged in computer maintenance) to use this technique every now and then to (somehow) refresh the computer memory (??!!!) etc., especially if some sluggishness is apparent from the computer (which is a futile excercise, btw).

[selva1966]

You are very observant puja399. I also noticed these engineers doing this. I am now copying them but with NO appreciable change in anything.

[sakumar79]

Yes, I think they do it as if to look busy and that they know what they are doing... Once you start interacting with them and indicate that you have good knowledge of computers, I have seen some of them stop doing it


Arun

[puja399]

I remember when I was learning computer in the MS-DOS era, I have seen some of these people using 'dir' command to check (??!!) the speed of computer (by watching the speed of directory listing onscreen )

[MysticHalo]

Refresh is just a sort of time pass---ppl get irritated if their comps take too much time to load a particular application, so they just click arnd refresh to reduce their anxiety<any other appropriate word, maybe>

Originally Posted by sakumar79

Yes, I think they do it as if to look busy and that they know what they are doing... Once you start interacting with them and indicate that you have good knowledge of computers, I have seen some of them stop doing it


Arun

ROFL

[aryayush]

Well, refreshing the desktop once after XP has booted up properly does make it more responsive. For example, when you first click on 'Refresh' after booting up, it sort of takes a few seconds to do so. But the next refresh gets done instantaneously.

[vandit]

just a sort of timepass.... or a hobby or even a automated mechanism by their body... or maybe its their fav. button.. .. and yes i do agree with aryayush ... even after using a heavy weight application it does become more responsive when u click refresh...

[puja399]

Originally Posted by vandit

.. and yes i do agree with aryayush ... even after using a heavy weight application it does become more responsive when u click refresh...

It is just an illusion. Windows auto-redraws the screen when the CPU is idle, so just after running a resource hungry app, Windows is more concerned with the memory /disk cleanup and DLL unloading etc. than to redrawing or updating the screen. But when the user specifically asks Windows to redraw by using 'Refresh', such command takes priority over the 'cleaning up' task, and Windows redraws the screen as soon as possible, and thus defers the memory clean up for later.

However, it is a known issue that Windows is not that much famous in clean up job, I guess defering such an action is not recommended as sometimes it may result in memory leakage. However those having greater knowledge about the Windows internals may please comment on this matter.

[MysticHalo]

Hey, thats nothing to do with increasing responsiveness of the PC.
Try this-: Press ctrl+alt+del and see the cpu usage, now keep refreshing...nothing happens..on the other hand, if the CPU usage is high and u refresh ...its gonna increase further.
Looks like some u believe that refreshing clears ram or something like that

[the deconstructionist]

Well this is the reason for the F5 key to exist " You can press F5 when viewing a Web page to make sure that you have the most current version of that Web page. You can also use F5 when in Windows to refresh the screen. This can be a handy shortcut. If perhaps you are viewing the contents of a floppy disk and you insert a new floppy, your screen will still show the contents of the first floppy. Just press F5 to refresh the screen and see the contents of the floppy you just inserted."

[alienspiesu]

ya i too agree.. sum show off wit it.. n othrwise it cn b usd aftr u r finishd usg an app wich is resource hungry..
n on the web or floppy disk as mentioned in the post above mine..

[eagle_y2j]

Originally Posted by Tom Thomas

very simple question.....

Why should we click Refresh (right click ) every now and then in Windows OS but why not in Linux ?

What does Refresh Command do ?

Technical answers appreciated....

Windows Explorer can be slow to update its display when other programs change files and folders. Refresh speeds Explorer's reaction time.So we can't just say it is some short of show of ?

[Vyasram]

doing once maybe some good. But doin it 20-30 times is idiotic

[speedyguy]

agreed vyasram, its useless refreshing 20-30 times....
take a practical example....i agree does not clear ram or reduce cpu usage but does have to do somthin related wit dat...

try it practically....quite a heavy program or application...once u hv ur desktop click start button...it takes a little time to it...esp wit non optimistic rig....now try again by doing a refresh once after quitting d program....u find it operates faster

basically, wen u quit an application there r some temp and cached files which were used but need to be cleared b4 ur system stands by the desktop but windows is not able to do it quick enuf esp after getting older...(tis not d same wit freshly installed os or very fast system....this happens usually after more start-up services r installed n pc becomes lil unstable)...refresh actually means refreshing things wit the actual one..so it forces clearing of those temp files for redrawing ur current display

u even have softwares for auto-refreshing....thereby faster closing of programs....refer to page - "www.winguides.com/tweak"

cheers

[Tech&ME]

Ya I think this is something to do with Windows Explorer (File Manager), refreshing might be enabling the Explorer to update its file status faster and hence, we feel the system light as soon as we click on refresh once the desktop loads up when we start our comp.

[mohit sharma]

we can see some repetive sort of exercise by some people which eventually gets spread to a vast chunk of people , i too sometimes think whenever most of the people came to a system they just start refreshing the desktop , even if the system is p4 3.0 ghz. and everything is running quite smoothly , and then evertime i think , what the hell this / that guy is trying to do !!!!
is it something related to accelarating the throttle of the bike when it is ideally standing on a redlight !!!!! lol !!!

[speedyguy]

well thats certainly no use repetatively hitting refresh n torturing ur mouse and F5 key....

cheers

[CT Squad]

what exactly does refresh do?
while refreshing by right clicking on the desktop

[dheeraj_kumar]

it reloads the wallpaper, icons, files, shortcuts and other enhancements on the desktop, or any other folder where you right click.

[ilugd]

something like repaint in java, isn't it?

[Rollercoaster]

it merely updates the icons n stuff. sometimes u copy/create something on the desktop and it wont be instently shown on the desktop so u refresh.

[Vyasram]

another thread on this already exists

Very rarely u wud find the use of refresh if u r usin xp

http://www.thinkdigit.com/forum/show...hlight=refresh

[arijit basu]

Some technical talks:-
there are two types of RAM,static RAM and Dynamic RAM,and the ones we use...like SD RAM or synchronous dynamic RAM or DDR RAM, are all but dynamic RAMs.
static RAM stores bit of information as voltage,and dynamic ram stores bit of information as charge..
so charge leaks with time and thus we have the first form of refresh,,which stops the RAM from malfunctioning by sending the information again,,thus you have the basic idea of what refresh means,,is it alright???

[JGuru]

Any modern OS refreshes the data (reloads) of the directory you are viewing. There
are also processes running to check for any other Plug n Play devices being
attached , so that the drivers for that device are loaded & you can access the
device (Digital Camera etc., ) immediately. So you don't need to refresh anything!!

[siriusb]

arijit_basu, the refresh you are talking about is the Tref of sdram. It takes place automatically via the memory interface at the h/w level (though you can change it via bios).
What the OP is asking is the 'refresh' in the desktop/explorer context menu. I use refresh to rearrange icons correctly when a "Arrange icons by" rule is in that folder and I've just copy-pasted a file. I think refresh is also used to enforce a new icon, as in when you've just changed a file association to a new program. Maybe it has more uses. Never really gave a thought to it.

[nitish_mythology]

I saw the refresh option in Kde based Linux disrotros but not on Gnome based one...
Why? Pls explain.

[Vishal Gupta]

I think we hv Refresh in GNOME too (Cleanup by name or something like that).
Not sure coz I don't hv Linux installed on my comp

[eagle_y2j]

Originally Posted by JGuru

Any modern OS refreshes the data (reloads) of the directory you are viewing. There
are also processes running to check for any other Plug n Play devices being
attached , so that the drivers for that device are loaded & you can access the
device (Digital Camera etc., ) immediately. So you don't need to refresh anything!!

but can any explain why microsoft is not removing the hell refresh if it is of no use to end this discussion:--------------

[rajasekharan]

well, i refresh to arrange the icons, .....i usually put it as type.....and at times it does not do that , so i refresh ....either by f5, or right click...