Leave computer running or shut it off?

[punkster103]

Everyday?! That's a bit overkill, don't you think?

That's what it recommends. Besides, you can schedule it to do it at certain times, like midnight or something when you're not on and don't really care.

EDIT: Anyone else use Diskeeper?

[Robpol86]

i do, i use the set-it-and-forget-it thing on all of my partitions except my d/l partition

[punkster103]

i do, i use the set-it-and-forget-it thing on all of my partitions except my d/l partition

Yeah, I would do the same thing, but my computer is so old it only has a 13gig hd in it, so there's really no point in partitioning it. The only time I partition it is when I format - just move all my music and important stuff to a partition and reinstall Windows on the other.

[•`‘‚‘°•.Ð몆|-|.•°‘‚‘´•]

Everyday?! That's a bit overkill, don't you think?

That's what it recommends. Besides, you can schedule it to do it at certain times, like midnight or something when you're not on and don't really care.

EDIT: Anyone else use Diskeeper?

Well we see you are not a real computer enthusiast...
**Cough "Im just a geek" Cough**
but who really has time NOT to be on at 12...
i think anyone who HAS A JOB or goes to school,
doesnt have any other time to be on the computer...

[Anthony]

The only line I understood was "who has time to be on at 12?".

[Michael]

Well we see you are not a real computer enthusiast...
**Cough "Im just a geek" Cough**
but who really has time NOT to be on at 12...
i think anyone who HAS A JOB or goes to school,
doesnt have any other time to be on the computer...

Yeah, who really has time to learn grammar and syntax, too?

[Anthony]

Well we see you are not a real computer enthusiast...

We see you are not a real computer enthusiast

**Cough "Im just a geek" Cough**

**Cough "I'm just a geek" Cough**

but who really has time NOT to be on at 12...

Who has time to be on at 12(pm?)

i think anyone who HAS A JOB or goes to school,
doesnt have any other time to be on the computer...

I think any one with a job or that goes to school does not have time to be on the computer.

_____
I spend half my time on this site at school (I also have 2 computer classes and 2 study halls).

[jester22c]

I work 20 some odd hours a week and am a full time college student taking 18 hours and I have time to be on the computer for a few hours every day. It's all about scheduling your day

[Matt]

If I had time at school to get on a computer...I would. LOL

[jester22c]

If you were referring to my comment; I do not get on the computers at school. I was talking about at my house.

[Matt]

No, was referring to Anthony's comment...guess I should have quoted it.

[gururalph]

I just don't understand the logic of people leaving their computer on all the time. It makes no sense whatsoever.

Tell me this, do you people who leave your machines running 24/7 also leave your car running in the driveway when you are home?

Do you leave your TV or stereo on, all the time?

Here are a few reason why you should not leave your computer running.

1. Tremendous waste of energy. Just imagine how much energy would be saved every year globally if everyone who left their machines running started shutting them off at the end of the day.

2. Risk of frying your components during a power surge, blackout or electrical storm. Your machine is way more likely to be damaged if it is on during these events than if it is off. Of course, a direct hit by lightning can fry almost anything in your house, even if it is not powered up.

3. Performance! If you always leave your machine running, and you have Windows 95/98/ME, check your system resources. If you are not at 85%-95%, you are not running at peak performance. (You may also have way too many programs running in the background) Restart the computer and see how your system resources increase. We all know how a restart can solve so many problems that Windows can develop while running.

4. Wear & Tear. Every moving component in your machine has a limited life. Fans, power supplies and hard drives will eventually wear out. Why shorten their life by thousands of hours by leaving them on all the time? The theory that components are damaged more by turning them on and off then by leaving them on might have been true many years ago, in the early days of the printed circuit board. But it doesn't don't really hold up today. Compare your computer to other electronic devices in your life. Do you leave any of them running all the time? Is your TV's life shortened by turning it on and off? Your stereo? I have a Sony Trinitron color TV made in the early 80's that has been turned on and off a few times a day since I bought it. It still works perfectly!

My theory about the myth that you are better off leaving your computer on 24/7 might have come from the early days of computing. Networks were just starting to become widespread in offices and network administrators had difficulty keeping workstations running and connected to the servers. They probably told employees to "just leave it running" so they wouldn't have to deal with trying to get them re-connected all the time. This practice just stuck and people all over still say the same thing, "I thought you were supposed to leave it on". It's kind of like the myth that "Mac's are better for graphics". Sure, that was true, for a few years when Mac was the only Graphical User Interface, but today? Please!

The trouble with these myths is that most people never question them. They just repeat them, over and over, without asking why or seeing if they are really true.

[harra]

The only computer I leave on 24/7 is my computer at work and it's for one reason only.....convenience.

The company uses some roaming profile setup and pushes application updates and crap down the to computer at bootup. Most of the stuff I don't need or want because I am a IT consultant for the law deparment and most of the stuff they push are apps I don't use (law related programs). Due to this method the bootup time can take between 30 - 45 minutes (slooooowwww network ). So I leave it up all the time. My PC's at home only come up when I'm working on them.

[Timelessblur]

On my laptop I really shut it down, I normaly I just hibrated it. Also leaving you computer on 24/7 does not really take the much power. It the moniter that drains over 90% of the power. and I willing ot bet most people who leave there computer on 24/7 either turn off there monitor or have it set up to do so after an hour or so. Also most the componits will not ware out before it time to either upgraud them or replace the whole computer. I run windows ME. My home computer is on an average of 16 hours a day. It gets turned on in the morning and shut down at night. The reason is it a lot more convinted to just sit down andm move the mouse to start working than it is to wait for the machin to boot up.

[Anthony]

1. Tremendous waste of energy. Just imagine how much energy would be saved every year globally if everyone who left their machines running started shutting them off at the end of the day.

Not if you have the correct settings. Mine draws almost no power after 2 hrs.

2. Risk of frying your components during a power surge, blackout or electrical storm. Your machine is way more likely to be damaged if it is on during these events than if it is off. Of course, a direct hit by lightning can fry almost anything in your house, even if it is not powered up.

Oh goodie. Between the surge protection $100,000 pay out (I think its that much) it would only be possible to end up with a better computer.

3. Performance! If you always leave your machine running, and you have Windows 95/98/ME, check your system resources. If you are not at 85%-95%, you are not running at peak performance. (You may also have way too many programs running in the background) Restart the computer and see how your system resources increase. We all know how a restart can solve so many problems that Windows can develop while running.

Not on stupid 9x. I would shoot myself for that. I love my 2000 computer.

4. Wear & Tear. Every moving component in your machine has a limited life. Fans, power supplies and hard drives will eventually wear out. Why shorten their life by thousands of hours by leaving them on all the time? The theory that components are damaged more by turning them on and off then by leaving them on might have been true many years ago, in the early days of the printed circuit board. But it doesn't don't really hold up today. Compare your computer to other electronic devices in your life. Do you leave any of them running all the time? Is your TV's life shortened by turning it on and off? Your stereo? I have a Sony Trinitron color TV made in the early 80's that has been turned on and off a few times a day since I bought it. It still works perfectly!

By the time my computer dies because of something like that (which I have never had to deal with) I will need a new computer anyways.


I could care less actually if it is bad/good for the computer to be on. As long as it meets my demands everyday. Boot up / Log on time is a pain on a 166 Mhz.