Should I turn my computer off after I use it or keep it powered on.?

Answer 1

It all depends on how much you use your PC and what you use it for. If you’re like me who uses the computer all the time, then no don’t turn it off unless you have to. It wouldn’t make much since to turn it off if you know you’re going to use it again 15 minutes later. Some say that excessive power on and off can cause parts to fail more frequently than if you just keep the computer on all the time. I’m not sure if that is true or not, but it does make since. I have seen a lot more PC hardware failures at a cold boot than any on a PC that has been running. If you keep your computer on you can schedule an anti-virus scan to run overnight. I set my computer up to scan my files for viruses and check for windows updates every night so that way if I do decide to turn my PC of for the night it won’t be a big deal if I miss one or two nights of scanning and updates. Sure there are times when I do turn off my pc or just use the sleep option when I know that I will not be using it for a while. Ever once and a while, when something doesn’t seem right, or if it’s running a little slow I will give it a restart to clear things that get held up in memory. In any case, the sleep option is probably the best option to use. I have never seen any hardware failures from tuning on a computer from the sleep mode. If you have a broadband connection, some people think that your computer can be hacked into or be subjected to Trojans by keeping your computer on all the time. Well, as long as you have the most up to date windows patches and updates, and a firewall/internet security software u should be OK, and the best thing to do is connect to the internet with a good broadband router. These routers will transfer data only if your computer started the data communication first.

Answer 2

There are two trains of thought on this.

1. Leaving your computer on, keeps components at a constant temp (relatively) however electrons slowly etch pathways as they flow through the circuits. As these pathways widen your stuff will start to glitch and eventually fail. (I bet that would take a while)

2. Turning your system on and off cause’s components to heat and cool (resulting in expansion and contraction). This will fatigue the components and over time cause micro fissures (cracks) that will eventually cause your system to glitch then of course, you guessed it fail (I bet that would take a while also)

A light bulb will last longer if you leave it on, so that would seem that 2 is correct. But they both probably are to a certain degree.

But what you should be thinking about is power, it probably costs you roughly (depending on where you live and energy costs blah blah) $40 a month to run your PC 24hours (as kilowatt hours increase so will that figure, as well as savings *see below) so if you only use it for say 4 hours it would cost you $13.33 a month and if you used it 6 hours it will cost you $20 a month

6 hours a day usage savings:

1 year – $240
2 years – $480
3 years – $720
4 years – $960

4 hours a day useage savings:

1 year – $320.04
2 years – $640.08
3 years – $960.12
4 years – $1280.16

So even though at the two year mark you used some of that money to get that uber bad to the bone video card you wanted and put in nearly the fastest processor your motherboard can handle, so you could make it the next two years, you still have a considerable amount to put down or buy outright your next system (if you save it in the bank and not spend it that is!!!!) look for a high yield money market with no minimum balance requirements and you’ll have just a tad more from the interest also. should find one around 5%

Answer 3

Ahh, the great debate, to turn off or not. There really isn't a clear answer for this one, there are reasons for both. The biggest argument to turn it off is saving electricity. The biggest argument for leaving it on is avoiding thermal stress to components.

Saving electricity is easy to understand, thermal stress might need some explanation. When the components heat up, they materials they are made out of expand. Different substances expand different amounts though. The metals expand more and faster than the plastic, for example. A computer that is off will eventually match room temperature, one that is running but not being used will be a little hotter, and depending on how much the systems is working during load peak (like when playing a game) will quite a bit hotter. All those materials are expanding and contracting different amounts and at differing speeds with every temperature change. This causes stress on the components, turning off the computer adds to that stress by cooling the computer off more than letting it level out somewhere in the middle of the temperature range. However, there really isn't any definitive proof to how much damage the temperature swings cause.
There are also arguments that the voltage change from off to suddenly on can be "the straw that broke the camel's back."

Obviously, I think that leaving a computer on is best. But there isn't really a right or wrong answer. Alot of people take the middle ground, turn the computer on when you first need to use it. Shut it off only when you're done with it for the day.

One thing is for certain, if you plan on leaving it on, you'll want to shut it down and start it back up occasionally. There are things that Windows and other programs do only when they shut down or start up. Doing so occasionally will help keep your system stable. Additionally, if you have broadband, or any "always on" internet connection, disable you connection if your computer doesn't need to access the internet while you aren't on the computer. That will keep it safe from malicious attacks. And finally, certain settings can be adjusted to reduce energy consumption. Setting Windows to turn off the monitor, or using a blank screensaver saves loads of energy, comparatively.

Answer 4

Leaving it on overnight is okay, but it should be restarted every week or so at least. Windows initializes a lot of things when the machine is powered up (this is why when you update Windows it makes you restart it), so powering down and restarting it occasionally prevents problems. (I personally turn my machine off at night, but my son keeps his on most of the time.)

However, if the monitor is left on for long periods, the onscreen image can get burned into the screen. Where I work the machines are set to lock up after five minutes, and after half an hour the energy saver shuts off the screen and it goes black. Even with this, there are some older monitors which have the "System is locked" window burned into the screen so it's always there as a ghost image. So switching off the monitor is probably more important than shutting down the CPU.

Answer 5

Hmm...I usually turn off my computer after I use it. But it's like I wake up around 10 in the morning, turn on my computer and it's running till I go to sleep which is 2 in the morning. I don't sit in front of computer all day but it's always on as long as I'm awake. It's been on 24/7 for couple of times but it has been good.

I think it's a good idea to turn it off sometimes, you don't want your computer to work so hard that explodes inside!

Answer 6

Try going to START BUTTON/SETTINGS/CONTROL PANEL/POWER OPTIONS and setting reasonable times to save power. Over the years it's kind of a chicken or egg theory. Some folks thought the hardware would wear out if you kept turning the system ON?OFF. It really makes no difference but it is ecologically correct to use the least amount of power.

Answer 7

Well, you should ask yourself if your going to leave the room for a few hours would you leave the light on knowing you might go back in there? Of course not, you would turn it off and then turn it back on if you go back in the room. Same thing here, it wastes electricity to leave it on. If your gonna be on and off the computer then I would leave it on during the hours you use it most and turn it off before bed.

Answer 8

go to system preffrences or controll pannel and go to power options or energy saver and set it to sleep or standby after like 15 min, you save power and you never need to wait for it to start up. To wake it up, press somthing on the keyboard or the power button. I have a mac laptop and it goes to sleep after 5 min. For desktops i recomend 15 min.

Answer 9

environmentally and monetarily(having to do with money) you should turn it off to save power, but if you use your computer alot(like me) and it takes awhile for you comp to reboot (like mine) then just put it to hibernate or sleep. THat way it saves power and also keeps it ready to go.

Answer 10

Turn it off to conserve energy, but if your gona be back to it within the nex hour leave it on to save yourself the time of it starting up