is it ok to leave a pc on for months ?

Question

i use my computer alot!!!!! and i download alot of things , i usually leave my computer on the longest time i ever left it on was for a week , is it safe to leave the computer on?? i also herd that is bad shut down ur computer because it does something to the hard drive. do any of you guys just leave ur pc's on for a long! time??

Answer 1

if your pc is well ventilated and in a cool area kept dust free it will be ok - shut downs can cause problems but very rarely just like a defrag

Answer 2

I was using my old computer P3 500 Mhz as a webserver and had it on for 2 years. I had to restart it only like 3-4 times in that period and everything is still running fine. No hard drive problems. I still use it soemtimes. I have a feeling the power supply is about to go though but the computer is now 7 years old so I can't complain.

If your hard drive is not very reliable like western digital lol it will die in about a year. It all depends on the quality of the components.

Answer 3

The motor in the hard drive will eventually wear out but they have a pretty long life. The rule of thumb as told me by a guy who designs PC's is; if you won't need it for eight hours, shut it down. Start ups are a bit hard on the circuitry but so is leaving it run unnecessarily. If the cooling fan dies while you are away, it could overheat and do serious damage.
It is a trade off between the life of the hard drive motor and the life of the fan and circuit boards.
Gone for two hours, leave it run.

Gone for eight hours, shut it down.

Answer 4

It has been said that turning your computer on and off can cause ware on your system. secondly, It is smart to turn off your computer off every now and then , because if you don't your cache builds up ,which can lag your computer. If your computer has heating problems(some that you may not be aware of). It is possible it starts to melt or the processor even go pop and if you live in a bad area your going to duck. So don't worry about shutting it down every 5 mins you are gone ,but simply shut it down for a bit for good health.

Answer 5

It's OK to leave your computer on for a long time, as long as you have good air conditioning... we (my company) leaves our computers on for months, even years... the only time one of our unit got busted (damaged) was during a thunder storm. Lightning surge got thru the data cables and hit this unit which was nearest the server... other than that, I bet it will be OK... and by the way, If you're linked to the internet? Make sure you have the latest anti-spyware and anti-virus software installed... just to make sure...

Answer 6

Leaving it on for a year is ok.

But, if you do a lot of multitasking, you have to restart the system every now and then to get the residual crap out of the upper memory architecture.

Like you, machines need a break now and then for preventive maintenance and "mind clearing". The more crap it has to retain, the slower it will become.

Answer 7

I leave my desktop on for weeks at a time. I don't think it has hurt the computer any, it just uses alot of electricity.

Answer 8

Dont listen to them myfriend left his PC on for 2 months with a fan blowing on it and fried his processor because it worked non stop

Answer 9

You should have it set so it can go to the screensaver and 'sleep' if it isn't used for a certain amount of time. I've always heard its best to leave it on, but not running.

Answer 10

see you later as your giving your computing device quite some water and Kool help it will be effective. remember to regulate its muddle. And it gained't damage you to furnish it a deal with each so often.