Is it better to keep your computer on all the time or?

Question

turn it off and on once or twice a day?

Answer 1

As long as you turn off the monitor or use a screen saver, your PC will be fine leaving it on. I always leave my computer on since I have a TV tuner and record a lot of late nite TV on my comp.

It does cost more to have your computer powered on all the time though, so arguably it's better to turn it off and on as needed. But you will not damage your system by leaving it on.

Answer 2

There are two schools of thought:

1. Power cycling the computer can cause damage to components; The continual expansion and contraction of the components, due to heating and cooling as the machine is turned on and off, could shorten the life of that component, as well as cause several other, related problems. Memory modules, expansion cards, even the CPU itself, have been known to creep out of their sockets. I've also read that solder connections can possibly crack, resulting in unreliable operation. It is also thought that the hard drive is most subject to stress when you first turn it on.

2. Leaving the computer on can waste energy. The continued operation of the fan can cause a buildup of dust inside your PC. The computer is also subject to power failures, if left on all the time.

I suggest a little common sense be applied. If you are going to use the computer again in a few hours, then leave it on. Personally, I turn on my computer once per day, and turn it off when I leave the house, or go to bed. I consider this a compromise.

More modern PC’s have power saving modes where, the computer hibernates, or even shuts off. In this case you need not worry about turning off your computer, because it will do that all by itself.

Answer 3

leave the box on 24/7. set the CRT to auto power down after less than an hour. i have mine set at 15 minutes. The monitor goes into idle mode - kinda like a TV set.

i have updates auto download/install. Occasionally an update will require a restart. If so, Windows will automatically reboot.

My PC will go into hibernation only if my uninterruptable power supply is almost drained of juice. It will then send the PC to sleep.

Oh, two other things. If you're using broadband, Firewall your PC and keep your anti virus software up-to-date.

Answer 4

This question has been asked many times.

It really doesn't matter. Modern PCs use very little electricity and most even go into power save mode when not used. Harddisks are made to spin all day long and rest of the electronics don't care if they are kept on.

We have hundreds of PCs at work and they are all turned on 24 hours a day, all year long. Failure appears to be very random and not related to their on/off state at all. (I used to manage them)

If you are using conventional CRT, you do need to turn that off. There are heat generating parts and high voltage components, not to mention the CRT tube itself, that degrades over time when turned on.

If you are using LCD panels, you can keep it on and let it blank out under your computer's control.

I keep mine ON all day long.

Answer 5

Its a personal prefrence, Some people set there updates to happen in the middle of the night, (if you have hybernation enabled, I think the pc will actually wake up and get the updates,) Hybernation is the computer goes to sleep and uses minamal power. But its better to save energy, so just shut down when its not in use..

Answer 6

hibernation is the answer. I have to work on & off so I choose to hibernate my XP.

When you click turn off computer, you get 3 options "Standby , Turn off, re-start. Now keep your Shift key pressed & see that Standby will change to hibernate, now click on hibernate.

The best thing about hibernation is that your computer will save all the file & when you re-start you will find everything the way you left. It also takes around 20-30 sec to re-boot & save our precious time. It also saves power as in hibernation mode you can switch off your computer power, you wont loose any unsaved files.

We can also set automatic hibernation time, right click on desk top, open properties > screensaver > power > choose the last drop down menu in front of hibernation, select the time & then click OK on all open windows.

Answer 7

If you leave the computer on all time and it doesn't have good cooling system, you might end up replacing some of the parts if they melt under extreme heat. That happened to one of my friend before.

Answer 8

Depending on your usage, if you use it over 18 hours I'd say keep it on, else it's better to shut it down.

There are different views on the "power saving by shuting the monitor issue", and I support the "keep the monitor on" view. Take your pick.

Answer 9

I don't know if it's better or not, but I have mine running 24/7, and only restart when new update/software downloaded and installed. I haven't experienced any problems yet... it's been running for over 2 years since I built it.

Answer 10

depnds on usage and yr cooling system, best off becos some of the parts tend to burn out more easily when u keep running without any cooling system like air con room blah blah.