turning off the computer

ok...

i used to turn off the computer every night until my friend said that computers were built to be never or rarely turned off...

so what is "healthy" for a computer???

to turn off or not to turn off, that is the question...

As great as Mac vs. PC....its preference really....i leave it on all night if downloding something....then restart when finished. Whatever is better to YOU...

Put it this way.... You used the term "computers" - "computers" can run for years without being turned off/restarted. What do you think all these UNIX servers do?

As for your PC, then in my oppinion - it depends on your PSU, and also your Operating System. Microsoft Windows 9x/Me in my experience, will not stay stable for more than 4 days (4 days always-on), no matter how much RAM or CPU speed you have.

Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 can last a lot longer - with NT Server/2000 Server/2003 Server probably being able to last a few months, and still be stable.

Linux, can last a very long amount of time - months.

UNIX, I would expect - the sky is the limit.

I don't think it's 'un-healthy' to leave them on at all - it's what they were made to do.

[Edited on 18-7-2004 by MetalHead]

I personally leave my computers on all the time. The Linux computers never need restarting (plus are never turned off, only for hardware maintainence or kernel upgrades).

Even my computers with MS Windows XP Pro on, I normally leave on 24/7 for about a couple of months at a time.

[Edited on 18-7-2004 by MetalHead]

Same here. My computers are ON 24/7

I only restart them when I have to reboot after I install updates and stuff.

Originally posted by dreamlandmafia
As great as Mac vs. PC....its preference really....i leave it on all night if downloding something....then restart when finished. Whatever is better to YOU...

thats what i do...

i guess i will give my computer some rest because it works hard

If cooling is good (the hotter it runs the shorter its life) then there's really nothing than OS stability preventing keeping it on always.
Of course it consumes electricity and produces heat.... what you have already enough at summers, but in winter it's same do you heat your house with "normal method" or with PC.

But then there are mechanical parts like HDs and coolers which will worn.

It depends if your fan can cope with the cooling needed, remember the fans are only designed to run for a limited time on a home PC, sometimes it's just best to let the wole system just shut down and cool down

Peace

DJDOHBOY

I'm as guilty as anyone of doing this, but leaving a laptop on for extended periods is NOT recommended.

In fact, customer service told me I had as much as voided my warranty by playing video games on my laptop for more than a couple hours at a time.

They replaced the cooling unit three times, but wrote me off after that.

So it's bad to let any computer get hot, but like others said some are just better equipped to deal with it.

As far as the charge shock turning one on and off alot. Just use common sense. Don't turn your PC off for lunch, but maybe for the night...or at least once a week. The point being that cutting power and booting it several times a day can be as bad as running it hot.

Very true RANT...

Also, yes - laptops are more important to turn off (or leave on hibernate or standby at least) when not in use. I own a Toshiba Satellite laptop, and they have a cooling fault (like with many laptops) - if you leave them on for too long using the power-pack, it can fry the system-board.

Also, another thing I remember... Not that it is that relevent here, but I'll include it anyway...

On MS Windows (especially Windows 98), when you shut the computer down, on some computers it doesn't shut-down totally - it has that message "It is not safe to turn off your computer" - this can be hell.

Your CPU is still actually running at this point (obviously), and on some computers - the CPU fan (and others) stop running also at this point; so if you leave your computer on displaying that screen (for a long time)- you can in effect fry your CPU and motherboard (happened to my parents computer a few years ago).

So if your computer is run of those that displays that message when shutting down - make sure you do turn it off then, and don't leave it running. (Even if your fans are still going, do not risk it).

One thing I missed out in my first post, which everyone else seems to have added - is that it all depends on your cooling system, amongst other things hardware related aswel.
I think (may be wrong) for hardware, it depends on the following:
* The cooling system inside the case (e.g. fans, water cooling, etc).
* Good stable CPU.
* Stable Hard Disk Drive(s).
* Also, believe it or not - cables.
Some cables are much better than others, the ones to watch are IDE cables (particulary for hard-drives) - I think it's the types with the smaller (but more of) wires that are better (2 wires per pin if I remember correctly).

I am not too familuar with SCSI or RAID devices and what cables they use. though.

I usually put mine into standby at night. The case fan shuts off, and the powersupply fan runs in quiet mode once it cools down. It hardly consumes any electricity in this mode, and it starts up right away when I move the mouse in the morning. There have been a few times when I notice it already on in the morning. Either aliens, or my cats must be using it at night after I go to bed.

I leave my computer on all the time and I never have any problems. I heard that the inital power surge that courses through the machine when you power up makes for wear and tear on the machine.

Originally posted by RANT
I'm as guilty as anyone of doing this, but leaving a laptop on for extended periods is NOT recommended.

In fact, customer service told me I had as much as voided my warranty by playing video games on my laptop for more than a couple hours at a time.

They replaced the cooling unit three times, but wrote me off after that.

Let me guess, it's with desktop processor?

There are huge amounts of these "laptops" with 3 GHz P4s and I really don't understand why they have to jam that kind of heater to so small "case". (maximum power consuming is about 100W and pretty much all goes for "heating")

My own Acer Travelmate 803 laptop doesn't really produce much heat, at idle its power consuming is propably about couple watts. (and maximum "heating power" of its Pentium M 1,6 GHz processor is 24 W... and it's as fast as 2,5 P4)

Originally posted by MetalHead
On MS Windows (especially Windows 98), when you shut the computer down, on some computers it doesn't shut-down totally - it has that message "It is not safe to turn off your computer" - this can be hell.

Your CPU is still actually running at this point (obviously), and on some computers - the CPU fan (and others) stop running also at this point; so if you leave your computer on displaying that screen (for a long time)- you can in effect fry your CPU and motherboard (happened to my parents computer a few years ago).

Thath's old AT design computer.

And Intel processors have long had internal safety system which shutdowns them automatically if temperature starts rising too high.
And I think it was P4 or P4M ehich has "thermal throtling"=if temperature rises it drops clock speed because heat production/power consuming is directly proportional to it. (but this causes also lose of "chruncing power")

AMD has used internal safety system only in couple of it's latest core's.

I think (may be wrong) for hardware, it depends on the following:
* The cooling system inside the case (e.g. fans, water cooling, etc).
* Good stable CPU.
* Stable Hard Disk Drive(s).
...
Some cables are much better than others, the ones to watch are IDE cables (particulary for hard-drives) - I think it's the types with the smaller (but more of) wires that are better (2 wires per pin if I remember correctly).

If cooling is uneffective you'll notice it in ten twenty minutes when playing games.
And if CPU isn't stable it also causes problems whole time, not just if you left your PC on for days.

And if hard drive is causing errors it also shows much before you left PC on for days.
It either works or not, it doesn't depend on for how long time you leave PC on.
Certain HDs (brands) have had bad durability problems in their models (series), like Maxtor's and IBM whose "Deatstar" serie had some models which were complete crap and would stop working in half year with high propability. (and they knew about problem but still sold that POS)

And cables doesn't have to anything with stability... this cable with double amount of thinner wires is called ATA 66 cable.
Those "excessive" (every other) wires have been connected to ground to decrease interference between "data"wires)
You need these cables if you want use faster HD transfer speeds than 33 MBps. This same cable is used in ATA100 and ATA133 "systems". (transfer speeds 100 MBps and 133 MBps)

Originally posted by E_T
Thath's old AT design computer.

Not true - Many of my computers do this, only one of them is AT style.

If cooling is uneffective you'll notice it in ten twenty minutes when playing games.

Not everyone playes games - I've used PCs with *no* fans in them what-so-ever, and they run fine for ages; it's only when you run heavy duty stuff, fans can suffer.

And if CPU isn't stable it also causes problems whole time, not just if you left your PC on for days.

I was refering to CPU power and stability, for example:
A Intel Celeron 366MHz will run much less stable than a AMD Athlon XP 2600+ when used with heavy duty activities, or long activity.

And if hard drive is causing errors it also shows much before you left PC on for days.
It either works or not, it doesn't depend on for how long time you leave PC on.

Not always true.

Certain HDs (brands) have had bad durability problems in their models (series), like Maxtor's and IBM whose "Deatstar" serie had some models which were complete crap and would stop working in half year with high propability. (and they knew about problem but still sold that POS)

This is what I was talking about.

And cables doesn't have to anything with stability... this cable with double amount of thinner wires is called ATA 66 cable.
Those "excessive" (every other) wires have been connected to ground to decrease interference between "data"wires)
You need these cables if you want use faster HD transfer speeds than 33 MBps. This same cable is used in ATA100 and ATA133 "systems". (transfer speeds 100 MBps and 133 MBps)

Exactly... If you run a high-speed computer dealing with lots of data, and you run a hard-drive using an old ATA66 cable, you will run into stability problems - as it won't be fast enough.

I'm not trying to annoy you, and I hope you were not suggesting I know jack - no-one is wrong here; there are many many different solutions and ideas in computer stability. Thank you for expanding my ideas and giving more information You've obviously been in the business longer than me - which isn't hard (I'm only 16, lol).


[Edited on 21-7-2004 by MetalHead]

Turning off your computer will not harm it. That is one of the biggest myths. I won't bother explaining the reasons, PCWorld will explain it for me. :-D www.pcworld.com...

Look for "Turning off your PC daily to save power shortens its life."

Forgot one thing.

I would recommend buying UPS if you're going to keep PC on continuously.
I would say this as especially important if you live in area where's thunderstorms.

Sadly there are only couple UPS which work with "normal" power cables.
Like this one:
www.apcc.com...

Originally posted by EmbryonicEssence
Turning off your computer will not harm it. That is one of the biggest myths. I won't bother explaining the reasons, PCWorld will explain it for me. :-D www.pcworld.com...

Look for "Turning off your PC daily to save power shortens its life."

i NEVER said turning a computer off will harm it...

i asked if it is "ok" to leave a computer on for a long period of time...