My husband leaves his pc on for DAYS at a time and I am wondering if this is harmful to the life of the pc and it's components. It's just on for the sake of being on, he's not downloading/uploading/running programs. I'm concerned that he may be shortening the life expectancy of an otherwise perfectly healthy, virus free pc...lol. Please tell me what damage if any, is done by running home computers for DAYS and even WEEKS at a time with no shutdown.
2007-10-19 02:05:50 · 16 answers · asked by dacurious1 1 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Desktops
Processors are designed to run constantly for years on end so no its not a problem at all. You should however perhaps worry about the environmental implications of energy use and maybe even your electricity bill.
2007-10-19 02:09:39 · answer #1 · answered by xexyuk 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Well-ventilated PC's don't need to be shutdown after EVERY use, but it's not a good idea to keep it running for more than a day at a time, for the following reasons:
1) The enemy of electronics is heat. If your PC isn't very well ventilated or cooled, its components can begin to accrue heat damage. This is rare, however, unless your husband is constantly running heat-producing programs, like complex 3D video games.
2) Your PC is like a static cling device, and therefore will attract nearby dust bunnies. Leaving it on unnecessarily will cause dust to build up in its vents and components, causing even greater chances for heat damage - or, at the very least, a dirty workstation.
3) They aren't big energy hogs, but PC's still do use electricity. Shutting it down will obviously save you a couple bucks a month.
4) Operating systems need their sleep. Shutting down or restarting your PC after long sessions will free up system resources, and improve performance.
Contrary to an age-old myth, shutting down your PC doesn't reduce its life-span. That was during a time when operating systems didn't include a safe-shutdown cycle.
If your husband insists on keeping it 'on', at least make him use the Stand-By function of the PC's OS.
2007-10-19 09:15:27 · answer #2 · answered by MannPower 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No, not at all; I leave my pc running 24/7
The harm to the components comes from turning a pc on and off repeatedly over it's lifetime, moreso than from leaveing the pc on continuously.
If you have sufficient "protection" from viruses, adware, spyware, malware, your ports not unconciously open, and some remote access fetures disabled; your pc should be safe. Make sure it is well ventelated. Clean it out on a regular basis.
The site http://www.portdetective.com/ can give you information about open ports on your pc which can be a route for access to your pc.
Allowing remote access to your computer can be risky, some or most of these features can be disabled if not needed.
I would bet your husband has probably told you some or all of what I have said, but you had to hear it from someone else.
2007-10-19 09:46:30 · answer #3 · answered by rdcatman 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It's definitely not good, both for the PC and the environment. In the case of the PC, the hard disk keeps running anytime the PC is on, thereby shortening its lifetime. As for the environment, the unnecessary and continuous consumption of energy is piling up the global warming that is currently the talk of both politicians, scientists and the man in the street.
2007-10-19 09:15:31 · answer #4 · answered by Paleologus 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Well if he has adequate virus protection, theres no harm there. But to keep a PC running that long with no shut down can cause fans to fail sooner than they normally would or should. But otherwise I am not sure if it would affect anything else..
2007-10-19 09:11:07 · answer #5 · answered by Fo Sho! 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I know people who do leave their computer on all the time (literally ALL the time)
But it always seems slow and they suffer greatly from pop-ups and adware.
I turn my PC/Laptop off after every use and do a Virus Scan once a week and it runs fine.
--to anwser, turn it off every so often. If not every time your done with it (ie. at the end of a day), then put it back on in the morning so its ready for when you do need it -- after all waiting for the darn thing to load up when your anxious to do something online is REALLY annoying.
2007-10-19 09:09:39 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
there is no harm in leaving the pc on,
but you should ensure that its cooling fans are working properly and that the c.p.u is ventilated enough.
A pc can be left on for long because there is no mechanical(moving) parts in them except the peripheral devices(keyb,mouse,cd/dvd player etc.)
but why leave the pc on when there is no uploading or downloading;
why to waste electricity and increase bills.
"there is no harm in leaving the pc on if maintained properly"
protection from virus can be ensured by installing a powerful and latest antivirus softwares and firewall.
2007-10-19 09:23:29 · answer #7 · answered by cooldude 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Oh crud... That isn't good. You can over heat the fans inside, and it might just completely burn down... Even if there's nothign really going on w/ the programs, even if you have virus protection systems, if you're connnected to the internet for any ammount of time, it's liable for you to get a virus, and the nasty ones target long loggers.....
2007-10-19 09:13:14 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
No damage to speak of but bad for the environment as is leaving anything on that you don't have to. Every little bit helps. Might want to reboot sometimes to free up your RAM.
2007-10-19 09:09:38 · answer #9 · answered by Ellen L 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Ummmm yea it might damage it a little but if its a laptop then just close the top but a screen pc then it'll probably damage an imprint onto the screeen.
2007-10-19 09:09:16 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋