How do YOU treat your computer????

[Vitahappy]

so this question has been bothering me for awhile. do you leave your computer for long periods of time (>12 hours, even days) even when you're not using it or having it on just when you need it. sometimes i leave it on for the whole day and turn it off when i go to bed. sometimes i only use it for 4 hours and then i turn it off. i try not to have it on at night when i sleep since the computer can get noisy and it's right next to the bed. i remember someone saying it's better leave it on for some technical reason that i cant remember.

[Nee_Lok]

Doesn't it ever like to sleep?

[woobiex]

XP or Mac?

[Rogue Trooper]

At home I turn the computer off right away when I don't need it anymore. I don't like the power consumption it takes.

At work I keep computer on all the time 24/7. Only boot it when necessary, ie. installing new hardware/software/updates which need to restart.

The technical reason why it's better to keep on longer times, is the fact that components heat when computer is on. After you shut it down, components cool down. If this happens constantly, some soldered joint might break apart if it wasn't good for starters.

[Vitahappy]

Originally Posted by woobiex

XP or Mac?

xp

[BelyakoV]

The world is dying and we all have our share in the process. Turn the computer off when you dont need it. Why would anyone run a pc for 24/7?

[Vitahappy]

Originally Posted by BelyakoV

The world is dying and we all have our share in the process. Turn the computer off when you dont need it. Why would anyone run a pc for 24/7?

what if they're running a server for the company or store? i dont know if i've actually had it on for 24 hours continusouly but i know others that have.

[toBot]

Starting and stopping any electro-mechanical gizmo creates turn-on surge currents and thermal cycling, both of which stress various components. But leaving it on all the time consumes power and spins the HD continously which eventually causes it to wear out too. CRT emission degrades and drifts over time too. Soooo, it's a trade off. All will fail eventually.....backup, backup, backup b4 it's too late.

PC's at work are on continously, I'll shut it off only when I'm on vacation.
At home, it's on for a couple hours in the morning and maybe another hour or two in the evening; sometimes on the weekends it'll be on all day.

When I was between jobs it was on practically all day and night, which often caused computer-induced-lead-ass-syndrome making it hard to get other things done.

[BigCityScene]

Vita,

I sometimes keep mine on for the evening because I'll be on it so much and I'm too lazy to turn it on and off. There are times on the weekends when I leave it on all night when I fall asleep and leave it and the tv on. (big waste of electricity...)

I agree with what To Bot says. Some say its better to not cycle it off and on, but at the same time you do wear your hard drive. Nothing lasts forever and you should backup everything that is worth keeping on a regular basis. Monthly, daily, or whatever works for you.

I would just be practical and turn it off when you don't need it because you are paying for every kilowatt hour that the thing burns anyways. And if there is some benifit to doing less on-off cycles (I'm not fully convinced that you gain more than you lose), then I'm sure the extra electricity that you'll burn will use up any benefit of any longer life)

[archman]

I generally leave mine on 24/7. In actuality, it really doesn't use that much more electricity. I guess the compensation for that would be that I rarely leave on any lights around the house that I don't need. For me, it's more of a personal thing--I hate the time it takes to boot up plus I like the fact that my email is always up-to-date and I don't need to wait while it downloads (and if you guys belong to one of Picky's groups, you KNOW how long that can take with the volume those groups get).