Cold booting is the process of starting a computer system from a completely powered-off state, meaning the computer’s power has been turned off completely and back on again. During a cold boot, the computer completes initialization, including hardware checks, loading of the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System), and starting the operating system. Unlike waking from sleep mode, cold booting involves resetting the device’s hardware and clearing temporary memory. Cold booting is a safe way to get a device working properly again without risking damage to any hardware or data. It is typically used as a last resort when a device is experiencing serious issues that cannot be resolved through regular troubleshooting steps, such as resetting the device or clearing the cache. Cold booting removes power and clears the memory (RAM) of all internal data and counters that keep track of operations, which are created by the OS and applications when they run. Erratic program behavior is often cured with a cold boot, also known as a "hard boot".