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Is it safe/better to leave your computer on at all times, as opposed to shutting down/turning on the system?
Some say that you should turn off your computer when you're done, so everything can cool off and not shorten the life of your system's components.
Others say that you should not shut down because the warming and cooling may crack or damage components, as well as 'hurting' the hard drives everytime they have to spool up.
Thank You.
Personally I think it's safer to shut down your system when not using it, such as to sleep, although I don't think it to be too important. It depends really on how frequently you update, if you intend to keep your system for many years then I would certainly suggest shutitng down, but with the quality of components nowadays and a good fan, it's fiune, so it can be left downloading etc
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Personally I think it's safer to shut down your system when not using it, such as to sleep, although I don't think it to be too important. It depends really on how frequently you update, if you intend to keep your system for many years then I would certainly suggest shutitng down, but with the quality of components nowadays and a good fan, it's fine, so it can be left downloading etc
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Thanks Matthew!
See, I asked around about placing my system into 'sleep' mode and they say that I might as well shut down, because in 'sleep' mode this usually shuts down the Hard Disks anyway.
I don't know.....
By the way, I do have 2 intake fans and 1 exhaust fan. I'm hoping this is adequate cooling. The issue still stands, though =(
.....To shut down, or not to shut down.....
Thanks Again
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I think it depends on how often you use your computer. If you tend to come and go alot, you might as well leave it on. I remember reading somewhere that monitors shouldn't be turned on and off frequently...you should wait an hour after turning it off before turning it on again. At my mom's office, everyone shuts down their computers but leaves their monitors on.
There is the wear factor...having your fans always spinning, etc. I don't think it hurts thermodynamically to turning off/on the computer. If you have adequate cooling, the temp. difference shouldn't be that bad.
I have 3 intake fans and 2 exhaust fans. My cooling is adequate. The manufacturer has recommended temp ranges, and I set the temp. monitoring program to a lower threshold, and it still doesn't come close
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Thanks David!
Good point about the monitor. I have my monitor turn off after 30 mins of no use, so I'm cool there.
But about the 'wear factor', what do you think about the hard drives having to spool up from a dead stop?
Actually, the hard drives were the main issue of this subject. I'm just not sure whether to kill the hard drives by leaving them on all the time, or kill the motor/bearings by turn them ON and OFF everyday =(
Again, I don't know......
Thanks Again, David
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All appliances have a small, but real fire risk by being left on, so the rule here is to turn it off when you leave the house, and overnight when asleep.
Monitors and PC's are made to be able to tolerate on and offs, so i wouldnt worry about it too much. You will long replace the PC before it did damage.
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ANOTHER excellent point! Possible FIRE hazard is definitely an important issue.
Thanks! All of your replies are helping me determine what I should do =)
Thank You
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At my job we have to leave the pc's & monitors on continuously year after year because we are a security company & we monitor businesses/houses/fire from them. The only time they are shut off is when we have bad storms. One time a bolt of lightening hit & all the computers rebooted themselves & came back on. Otherwise we have never had any problems with the pc's being left on continuously.
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It Doesn't really matter if you ask me. I turn and turnoff my computer all the time, sometimes I leave it on all day when I'm home. It's something I just don't think about, it's like leaving my tv on because I cant find the remote to turn it off. BTW... how do u guys get those exhaust fans for your pc?
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Thanks for all the replies! I guess this subject will have their supporters on both sides of the issue =)
Chris, about the exhaust fans. Could you pls kindly explain 'getting exhaust fans on our pc's'?
But, I see many computer cases these days that have port holes puched out on the rear of the cases. All you would have to do is just mount your fan. This exhaust port/hole is usually near the power supply, of course.
Thanks Again
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IBM Say if you use their hard drives more than 8 hrs a day - they will not replace it if it fails!! So where does this leave us?
(dont admit you have left them on if a drive goes by the way)Re Your 'puta fans - surely the whole point is to Extract HOT air? Having a single exhaust and two intakes doesnt make sense to me - just a thought!
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This is a realy tricky question. I typicly leave my computers on 24/7. The reasons for this is I have very good cooling in my cases so I know they will not over heat, I use them alot, the turning on and off alot will start to kill your hard drives, and verious other (probaly not true any more) reasons I have picked up over the years along with the take it takes to boot up and I don't like wating :).
This does leave one problem. If you leave your computer on for long amounts of time and don't use it you CPU can build up bad charges that can kill your CPU. So if you leave your computer on all the time you may want to look in to a program like the cancer reserch program or one of the varios other reserch programs that will keep your CPU running when you are not using it.
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Computers are built so much better than when this question originally started being asked. So I think the answer has changed.
Monitors dont burn in like they used to so thats not a worry. You don't even really need a screensaver. I haven't used a screensaver in three years and still no burn in. Its better to turn the monitor off if you want to save on the electric bill.
Xp is stable enough that you shouldn't have to turn it ofshutdown or restart like you did in Win9x. One thing to mention is that Xp optimizes itself during idle time.
The average lifetime of a modern harddrive s 4-6 years of continous running.
A few years ago I would have said turn it off but now it's really just personal preference.
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