Should I always leave my computer running?

Question

it has been suggested that I should leave my computer on and running at all times. Is that true?

Answer 1

I work on a computer every day for 8 hours and leave I never turn it off. I leave it running the whole week including weekends and only reset it sometimes. I don't believe that there is a problem with leaving it running.

Answer 2

No this is not true. I like to view my computer as a car. The longer it is running, the compontents wear out faster. (like putting miles on a car) Futher more it does cost electricity to keep a computer running constantly although not that much it however does have a cost. But it does not help in my opinion to keep a computer running at all times. The only thing is I would not turn it on and off repeatedly during the day. Like for example just turn it off for the night and turn it on once you need to use it again. Like once a day turning it on and off is fine.

Answer 3

If it's Unix based, like Mac OS X or Linux, leaving it on over night allows maintenance utilities to run, so it's good to let it run over night at least once every few weeks. If it runs Windows, it's best to leave it off 24/7. No power = no Windows viruses!

If you leave it on longer, make sure it's doing something productive so the electricity isn't wasted.
Here are some distributed computing projects that can run in the background:
http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/folding/
http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/
http://cmgm.stanford.edu/~cparnot/xgrid-stanford/index.html
http://www.d2ol.com/

Answer 4

No I have heard the opposite. Properly shutting down a computer gives the system a chance to reset all of its internal components. Then, when the system has restarted, all aspects of the system should be running optimally. Likewise, it is a good habit to restart the system this way whenever there appears to be a problem, as such a restart will often solve minor problems caused by corrupt memory, etc.

Answer 5

If you do this your computer will end up being a little slow & maybe even unresponsive at times. My husband (who is the senior computer technician at a school system if that gives him any credit) says I should shut mine down at least once a week. You can shut it down every night when you go to bed or just do it once a week when you're going to be away from the computer. From experience, I think it's true.

Answer 6

When computers were first made when they would be turned on a surge of electricity would travel through the circuitry and it was theorized that this had the potential to weaken the circuitry after being repeated every time the machine was turned off and on. This was never proven.

Todays computers bear little resemblance to those early computers. There is no problem with turning your computer off and on. In fact, leaving your computer on all the time can cause it to overheat causing damage to the CPU or central processing unit.

Go ahead and turn it off.

Answer 7

unless you are actually let it download data, or its process files, then there is no reason to leave it on.

It is true that the most damage gets done when turning on the computer, due to thermal differences, and wear on the switch. but this is not really a good reason to leave it on. think of how much energy you are wasting..

Answer 8

I used to do that and my hard drive crashed, the technician who replaced it told me my computer MUST be completely turned off for a couple hours each day, I have XP home edition, maybe industrial computers made for commercial business are different

Answer 9

No ,it is not true , I turn it off when i am finnished with the work here .
Just make sure you have a good virus protection on your pc , in case you do want to leave it on

Answer 10

Hei, it depends on your usage. Normally it is not advisable to keep the system in ON status without any task performed. You can keep the sytem in HYBERNATE or Standby mode when you do not want use it. When you press the power button...in few seconds ...you will get the same windows setting.