Is it bad to leave a computer on for a long time?

Question

I have a screen saver so it work get burn in but is it still bad to leave it on?

Answer 1

yeah because there is it chance of it overheating

Answer 2

Its funny but there is some weird fascination these days with turning computers off, as though the lifespan of the machine will be increased. This is totally, completely, and utterly the opposite of the truth.
Most certified technicians, and certainly network administrators will tell you that computer systems operate best when left on.
(many brother fax machines don't even have a power switch because people kept turning them off)
The reason is a term that back in the old days we used to call "chip creep"
See when a computer is turned on ,(which allows it to get to temperature) and then turned off(cooled) the circuitry inside expands and contracts. Any wire that undergoes physical change will eventually snap under strain.
Back when systems were all ZIFs (Zero insertion force sockets) the chips would actually work themselves out of place.
In most modern system the only ZIF you will find is the BIOS chip which has little room for chip creep. But there are many fine solder points (remember different types of metal expand at different rates) which can break over time.

So the answer is, leave it on and get a battery backup if you are concerned with the occasional power flicker.
Regarding Hard Disk and Fan motors:
As for motors, just like the motor in your car, it gets better life from constant movement than starting and stopping.
Leave it on and the dust particles don't have a chance to settle in place locking the unit.
The longer it runs at a constant temperature the longer it keeps running.
The biggest advantage to shutting a system down is power within large corperate environments, (which is why these power ratings were created in the first place.) See, if an office building using 3000 machines was set to suspend every night that building would save in power roughly $10,000 per year.
Thats a big figure for sure, but one machine won't save that an an annual basis.
So do yourself a favor and leave the thing on, or your eventual repair bill will outweigh the power cost.

Answer 3

There is no harm in leaving your computer on 24/7 If you leave it in the right enviornment. If you leave your computer on 24/7 make sure you have a good screensaver or the monitor turns off at a certain time.

There is something called etching which means that if your computer is exposed to the same image for a very long time it will be like embeded onto the computer monitor. Just look at supermarkets monitor notice how you can see the words on it.

There is no proven harm to the computer if you leave it on all day. However it is a good idea to give it a breather so either shut it down once a while or restart the computer again before using it. I leave my comptuer on 24/7 352 days. I only shut it down about once a month because I want to.

have your computer on standby if your concern. Standby just basically turns off your monitor, slows down your CPU and puts your hard drive to sleep. When you move the mouse you should hear the comptuer wirl up again.

Answer 4

No not really, just be sure you don't have hibernating sessions every 15 minutes or it will hibernate off and on depending on how long the computer is inactive. I usually turn on Yahoo radio. Although I have left my PC, which is like 2 years old, on and unattended for like half the day without any problems like heating, I recommend turning it off if you're going to be gone for a while. Don't want to start a fire.

Answer 5

Most home computers should be turned off if you are not using them for a period of time. Remember that PC's have moving fans that will in time stop working the more that they are used. Very common for dust and junk to get into your machine while you leave the computer on also as the dust is brought in from the fans blowing in air.

Turn your computer off if you are not going to use it for more then 8 hours or more

Answer 6

You leave the refrigerator on, don't you?

This is a matter of choice -- leaving the PC on as opposed to the power surge that comes with turning it on.

I leave my PC on all day, but if I will not be on it for a couple of hours, I turn the monitor off -- like turning off the light when you leave a room.

Answer 7

normally that really depends on the monitor, thats the only thing you really have to watch out for. if your talking about over night, or a couple of days on a normal system its ok. I would be careful about laptops because some contain mercury from what I've read. but if your monitor is within 5 years of this year it should be ok. I would also enable your standby mode if you have one, and your screen standby., (energy conservation thing), if you have one, just to make sure it stays safe.

Answer 8

Doesn't the computer have an automatic turn off feature?Turning it off before too long would be a wise choice,for longer running options,don't u think?

Answer 9

it all depends. is it a laptop? if so i would suggest getting one of them cooling units that go underneath. For a desktop, i would make sure that there is adequate fans. I leave mine on all the time and have a fan on my harddrives, a case fan pointing on my processor fan, and a side panel fan pionting on my processor fan. i also have a fan pointing on my CD roms, even though they hardly get used. So as long as you have good airflow and circulation, no its not bad to leave it on all the time.

Answer 10

not good to leave anything on steadily to long. Give a break, at night put it in hibernate. It will start where you left off, same running programs,

Answer 11

I leave my PC on 24/7