Is it better to leave the computer on or off?

[whoisurdaddy 0]

In my opinion, I think it is better to turn off the computer at night to let it cool down. I have a friend who told me it is better to leave the computer on all the time. He gave me a lecture about whenever I turn off computer, oxygen from CPU leaks into air each time and it is bad for the CPU. I have a feeling he is smoking something. So I was wondering what do you think about this? Is it better to leave the computer all the time or turn it off at night when you are not using it?

[EddiE314 0]

i think your friend IS smoking something. I leave mine on all of the time because Win2k doesn't require reboots like 9x does, and i don't like the idea of always putting my hard drives under stress by powering up and down all of the time. In my opinion it is better to leave it on.

[INFERNO2000 0]

Leave it on whenever possible.

You may decide to use sleep modes...but most of us just turn the monitor off and walk away.

 

 

It's more a problem of sound than it is of the computer...my parents tell me to turn it off so they don't have to hear it...

[Bursar 0]

Most modern PCs shouldn't have any problems being left on all the time.

 

My work PC is left on 24/7 crunching SETI units and has suffered no ill effects. It has the occaisonal reboot, but that's it.

 

My machine at home on the other hand gets switched off everynight. That's to do with 6x 80mm fans in the case to help keep it cool. They chuck out a lot of noise!

[Guest]

Leave it on all the time. My analogy is this.

 

When does a light bulb burn out? When you turn it on!

 

This is because of the little burst of power the light bulb gets when it's turned on. You can imagine what that does to a computer. That's why we have UPSs. Anyways.. leave it on.

 

 

 

[This message has been edited by Sandoval (edited 22 February 2001).]

[whoisurdaddy 0]

Ok, thanks for the replies.

[EddiE314 0]

Exactly Sandovol, thats the best analogy of a computer and a light bulb i have ever heard, BTW, i'm a bit on the intoxicated side right now

[Son_Gohan 0]

Could anybody explain me what's the point of leaving your computer allways on? It's like leaving your TV on 24 hours a day.

 

Unless your PC is acting as an FTP/web server, I don't understand why I should leave it on all the time. I power it off daily, and I've never had any problems at all.

 

IF I remember well, the european comission recently advised that leaving many electronic devices, such as videos, PC's and TV's in suspend mode was a waste of money, because they still use a bit of electricity while in suspend mode.

 

The boot up process takes just between 1 or 2 minutes, so, it doesn't hurt to wait a bit before windows shows up.

 

I need a good reason to leave it on. I already have one to leave it off: it's called "hibernation".

[clutch 1]

My TV doesn't have to boot up, whereas my PC does. Since I use my PC more than my TV, there isn't much of a need for it to be on as much. But I do use standby.

[Guest]

Computers are becoming more of an "appliance" rather than a luxury. A TV is a luxury, a form of entertainment. You don't buy thing over the tv, you dont do business over the tv... etc. It's simply there to entertain you when you have nothing else to do. So then, you turn it off when you no longer need to be entertained.

 

A refrigerator is not for entertainment. It needs to be left on 24/7 to keep perserve your food. It is a necessity, without it life would be really tough (think about it).

 

A computer is much more like a refrigerator than a tv. A computer CAN and is often used for entertainment, but more than that, it's a learning tool, a storage closet, a file cabinet, a telephone, a mail service, an alarm, a jukebox, a financial advisor, a merchant, a newspaper, a library, a psychic, a weather man, a photo album, a diary, a word processor, a data warehouse, and I could go on and on...

 

With everything that a computer does for us, it makes as much sense to leave it on 24/7, as you do with a refrigerator. It's an appliance... right up there with the fridge, the washer/dryer, the stove, and the dishwasher. Heck, one day it's (the computer) gonna control all these things too!!

 

I dunno, that's just how I look at it. Maybe it's just a view that I conjured up to make myself feel better about being such a computer geek.

 

 

[This message has been edited by Sandoval (edited 27 February 2001).]

[pimpin_228 0]

I agree that it is better to leave it on because of stress on harddrives because i shut it down and lost a couple of programs

when i turned it back on.

[Brian Frank 0]

I leave both of mine on all the time except when i go on vacation. So theyre off for two weeks or less during the year. Rebooting, I do when Im testing stuff or switching to another OS on my test system. But they're on 24/7 for the most of the time.

[Vampyr 0]

At home - computer on 24/7. Gone for vacation - turned off just in case something happens while i'm gone (fan stops working, power outage, hack, etc.)