Computer - Leave it always on , or turm it off off sometimes?

N/A ^ | Jan. 3, 2002 | Capt. Tom

[Capt. Tom]

This question could be answered on a computer board somewhere on the Internet, but I value the opinion of Freepers in all matters so I will ask it here,since everyone has a computer and undoubtably an opinion and may be interested in the answers.

I turn my computer off if I am going to be away from it more than 8 hours. Friends of mine leave the computer on 24/7. The reasons I turn mine off is in case of a power surge or outage when I am not using it. I have a Virus program but do not have a fire wall and figure it is less time a hacker has to get into my computer. Also I can hear things running (FAN etc.)inside my computer and figure that it's less wear and tear on the machine.

Since I started turning my PC down each night years ago things may have changed inside computers that we have today. Maybe starting it up each morning is more detrimental to the computer than just letting it run all the time.

There are undoubtably a lot of factors involved since chips like AMD are in common usage today and run hotter than Intel chips thus requiring more cooling. I have an intel chip in a 200 mhz NEC.

Comparing my shutdown method to my friends, it doesn't appear to me to make much of a difference. If it doesn't, I might just get a firewall system in my next computer and leave it on all the time.

[Capt. Tom]

What do the Freepers think? -Tom

[jedi150]

400 watts an hour to run it.

[tallhappy]

Reboot AOAP - As often as possible.

[Dimensio]

You are going to run the components down faster by keeping it on eight hours than turning it off and then on again later -- not to mention that it'll help reduce your power bill. Power surges shouldn't be an issue if you use a UPS -- and you should use a UPS regardless of whether you keep your computer on or off when not in use. Of the four computers in my house only one is on all the time, and it is a firewall/IP masqurading router/server box that needs to have constant uptime.

[2witty]

turning it off or rebooting it clears up its little brain so that it is not so confused. so turn it off if you are going to be away for any length of time

[Slyfox]

If I leave the house and leave the computer on, I always turn the monitor off.
A friend of mine's monitor caught on fire and nearly burned the house down.

[aaaDOC]

To protect against a power surge, get a power surge protector.

For a firewall, get the free version of ZoneAlarm or the better (?) pay version.

One of the main reasons to shut down is to conserve energy. A sleep mode helps, but usually doesn't work with a broadband connection to the net. I can put my monitor in sleep mode without putting the computer in sleep mode.

One of the main reasons to re-boot is that a re-boot clears out your RAM from all the various junk that fills up your RAM while surfing.

I always shut down the whole system at night.

[Catspaw]

If I leave the house and leave the computer on, I always turn the monitor off.

A friend of mine's monitor caught on fire and nearly burned the house down.

I lost a monitor (and a microwave and a breadmaker) when lightning hit a power pole near the house last year. The computer was off, but I had forgotten to turn off the monitor. Zaaap! When the thunder starts, not only do I turn off, but I unplug.

I turn the computer at home off when I leave for work. I turn the computer at the office off when I leave for home.

[TomGuy]

Sounds like you are doing ok.
I leave mine on all day, but turn it off at nite.
The start up (if you turn it off and on frequently) can take a toll on the drives.
The constant-on can affect your electric bill. However, the power supply doesn't consume much more than a couple of light bulbs.

Windows does require occasional reboots, though. Some Windows programs "hook" themselves in memory and won't release until reboot. So, if you open and close a lot of programs, you may find the system running slower.

You can, also, set your system (BIOS) or Windows power management to turn most of the components off or to standby mode after a selected period of keyboard/mouse inactivity.

[Jambe]

From a pure hardware reliability standpoint, electronics will last longer if you turn it on and leave it on. This is due to several reasons, key among them is temperature stabilization and constant power.

Have you ever noticed when most light bulbs fail? Highest failure rates occur when you first turn the device on - because there is an initial surge of current (current spike) and the electro-mechanical stress due to temperature cycling.

Computer electronics (CPU's, memory, disk drives, etc.) are little different. If something is going to fail on a PC, it's probably going to happen when you first turn the power switch on.

Note: Problems with bad line power, electrical storms, etc. do not apply. If your in an area where environmental factors are an issue get a battery backup system (UPS) to help clean up your power.

[TankerKC]

400 watts an hour to run it.

I've seen quotes from 270-400 Watts to run the CPU and monitor. Assuming you don't used any power saver features and depending on what you pay per watt, that could add up to a couple hundred dollars per year.

[AzSteven]

If you have a WinDoze machine, you should Log Off your user, but leave the computer itself running. THis gives you the benefit of security, and when you log back on the OS is basically being rebooted.

[Forgiven_Sinner]

I also had a monitor (1987 era) catch on fire. If you have energy management software, you can power down most of your PC.

The theory on leaving it on is preventing power surges that occur during power up. I've owned PC's for 10 years and have turned them off daily with no symptoms of harm from such power surges.

[CDHart]

I've found that it's safer to turn it off when I'm not using it, and I also unplug the phone and power cords because a thunderstorm could fry the modem, regardless of what kind of surge suppressor you use. That's why I'm still using the same modem that I had in 1995. I really need to upgrade, though.

Carolyn

P.S. The ones at work stay on all the time, though, as we run a tape backup scheduled for 10:00 p.m.

[dread78645]

24/7, low power mode monitor. I shutdown when the thunderboomers come in.

A power-down (& cool-down) will prolly stress the hard drive more than running continuously.
I run FreeBSD, a re-boot to clearup memory is not a concern for me.

(15 yrs field service, 12 yrs Sysadmin, FWIW)

[green team 1999]

works great and will shut down your computer safely if power fails.

[AFreeBird]

There are many factors to consider.

Back in the days before the public became aware of the internet [i.e. before the WWW] I ran a BBS on an original IBM PC - 24/7 for two years. I shut it down after two years for some reason I don't recall anymore, and, after a couple of weeks being off, when I went to restart it; I got POST errors out the wazoo. In effect; it was dead. The reason? The curcuits cooled down too fast and probably created some hairline fractures in the pathways.

So keepiing it on and running for so long could create a similar type problem although today's computers are probably more thermally tolorant in some areas. Now both AMD and Intel HighSpeed (> 1GHz) processor's today do run hot. They all run with cooling fans attached to the heat sinks. If that fan fails, you have about 1~3 seconds before processor meltdown. That senario is offset with newer BIOS' and motherboards with thermal & fan sensors that can shutdown the system if it senses failure in those components or a rise in temperature.

If you are connected to the Net via Cable/DSL "always on" connection, then you had better be running a firewall such as ZoneAlarm. I myself run with ZoneAlarm and I also have a Firewall/Router/Hub that connects to my cable modem. LinkSys sells one for about $99.00. If you don't have such protection then you should shutdown at night.

Power: A UPS is a must. As mentioned by others there are energy considerations. Newer motherboards will allow Windoze power managment to idle the processor, harddrives and network adapters when unused for a preset length of time. It's you call on that.

As for the strain on components of starting up? Harddrives would be the most suseptable component for such trouble as it has the most moving parts and heating and cooling would take its toll. Fans will generally start to let you know of impending failure with the sound of their bearing(s) going out. I've never seen one just up and stop on its own without such warnings. Though I have seen some not want to spin up after a system was shutdown and they cooled a bit.

If you do decide to run your system 24/7, make sure it's in a cool place, out of direct sunlight and has plenty of ventilation.

[Dog Gone]

400 watts an hour to run it.

Not if it has a hibernate function enabled.

[callisto]

Reboot every chance you get. A refresh is great for your computer. Get a firewall! Try Zonealarm, it's free. And if you're on DSL or cable modem definitely don't leave it open to any hacker out there running a computer program hunting for open computers to use for denial of service attacks. I try to think of my computer as needing the rest I need. If I don't get it I don't work well.

[Cicero]

My experience is that Windows energy-saving settings, such as shutting down the hard drive or going into standby or sleep mode, never work properly. So I set the monitor to go on standby after 15 minutes, but don't use any of the other energy settings. I always turn the computer off at night, except for weekly defrag and cleanup sessions.

If you have Windows 2000 or XP, you don't need to reboot nearly as often as you do with Win95/98/ME. But it still is best to shut down at night.

Also, DL and install the free version of ZoneAlarm, no matter how long you leave it on. Teenage hackers are hitting your computer all the time. Without a firewall you are asking for trouble.