Should i leave my computer on all the time?

xbit · Post by **xbit** » Fri Jan 04, 2002 4:01 pm

Sometimes i won't shut down for a while and sometimes not. What i'm wondering is if its bad to leave it on for more that 8 hours or so? Would it crash? Get unstable? or even catch the comp on fire? i got a surge protector if it helps.

TEH WIN · Post by **TEH WIN** » Fri Jan 04, 2002 4:04 pm

Well there is no physical harm having it on all the time... what do you think servers are doing...

but stability wise.. what OS are you running?

Windows 98 you may need to restart it, but you can leave it on.

Windows 2k or xp just leave the damn thing on, never turn it off

Windows ME, umm... never turn it on

blebs · Post by **blebs** » Fri Jan 04, 2002 4:04 pm

You can leave it on 24/7/365 if that's what you want to do. The only thing to watch for is, fan stopping and burning up your CPU and it can be a bit hard on your hard drive, but alway's on versus on/off isn't easier on it anyway.

lord_yuri · Post by **lord_yuri** » Fri Jan 04, 2002 4:06 pm

I've had this question many of times. If you have proper cooling I don't think it could hurt. Also make sure you have a good firewall if your non-dialup. I woudn't personally leave it on for more than 72 hours. But turn off the monitor when your not around for a while.

CiscoKid · Post by **CiscoKid** » Fri Jan 04, 2002 4:11 pm

My machine has been running almost 24/7 since I gto it in Januar minus my few vacations and power outages...

Joint Chiefs of Staff · Fri Jan 04, 2002 4:11 pm

Originally posted by MMC
Windows ME, umm... never turn it on

Joint Chiefs of Staff · Fri Jan 04, 2002 4:13 pm

I believe constantly turning on and off you PC causes more stress, wear and tear on components. I leave my pc on WinXP always. I don't use screensavers or hibernate. Just power down monitor after 5 minutes in power management controls.

Noevo · Post by **Noevo** » Fri Jan 04, 2002 4:16 pm

I would recomend leaving it on 24/7 and installing either Genome@home or Folding@home, or both

see here http://www.speedguide.net/sg_teams.shtml

heh, nice plug eh?

I have three PC's that are on 24/7/365. I reboot them every few days for good measure. with nothing else running, except some web browsing, and the rare game even my Win ME machine will go a week+ without needing rebooting.

win2k I think would go months (if I wasn't always fiddlin' with something on it)

XP, not sure yet. But so far seems to be as stable as my win2k machine.

BaLa · Post by **BaLa** » Fri Jan 04, 2002 4:21 pm

Originally posted by Noevo
I would recomend leaving it on 24/7 and installing either Genome@home or Folding@home, or both

see here http://www.speedguide.net/sg_teams.shtml

heh, nice plug eh?

I have three PC's that are on 24/7/365. I reboot them every few days for good measure. with nothing else running, except some web browsing, and the rare game even my Win ME machine will go a week+ without needing rebooting.

win2k I think would go months (if I wasn't always fiddlin' with something on it)

XP, not sure yet. But so far seems to be as stable as my win2k machine.

I was gonna suggest that...
hehe..

lord_yuri · Post by **lord_yuri** » Fri Jan 04, 2002 4:28 pm

I just installed folding@home it's really easy.

xbit · Post by **xbit** » Fri Jan 04, 2002 4:42 pm

The fan stopping and burning kinda worries me. How long do most fans last? btw this system is about 2 weeks old.

TEH WIN · Post by **TEH WIN** » Fri Jan 04, 2002 4:44 pm

normally a fan will sound really loud before it actually goes out... like it gets unbearable... starts making loud noises... wakes you up in the middle of the night, etc

xbit · Post by **xbit** » Fri Jan 04, 2002 4:46 pm

ok thanks for all your help guys. I guess i'll just leave it on, turn off the moniter and run that folding@home thing.

TEH WIN · Post by **TEH WIN** » Fri Jan 04, 2002 4:48 pm

Originally posted by xbit
and run that folding@home thing.

it worked!

and ya... i always just lock the machine and turn the monitor off whenever i leave the room

blue_mosquit0o · Post by **blue_mosquit0o** » Fri Jan 04, 2002 5:03 pm

if you are running win2k/NT/XP i would leave it on 24/7.
i am running xp on both my machines and never had any problems with freezing and i leave them both on 24/7

Brent · Post by **Brent** » Fri Jan 04, 2002 5:06 pm

Originally posted by MMC
Well there is no physical harm having it on all the time... what do you think servers are doing...

but stability wise.. what OS are you running?

Windows 98 you may need to restart it, but you can leave it on.

Windows 2k or xp just leave the damn thing on, never turn it off

Windows ME, umm... never turn it on

lol

I agree with everything he said

my thoughts exactly

Juggernaut · Post by **Juggernaut** » Fri Jan 04, 2002 5:16 pm

Originally posted by MMC
and ya... i always just lock the machine and turn the monitor off whenever i leave the room

Exactly what I do. I'm running Win2k on both my computers and never turn either of them off or have screen savers going. Whenever I leave the room, I simply turn off the monitor and speakers. Come back, turn them on and u'r good to go...NO problems at all. Rebooting once and a while because you install something is normal, but if u have Win2k/NT you shouldn't have any problems at all leaving it on...I don't know to much about WinXP tho.

Norm · Post by **Norm** » Fri Jan 04, 2002 5:27 pm

I leave mine on 24/7.

It filters the dust in my room

Grimson · Post by **Grimson** » Fri Jan 04, 2002 7:08 pm

I restart mine about once a day, except after a format

, as onetrueday pointed out I have a lot of things that run @ startup. Resttarting was a mofo b4 I got RAID.

funky · Post by **funky** » Fri Jan 04, 2002 7:18 pm

Have you guys think of the money you would save if you shut it down instead of letting it go on for months? I usually shut down my computer to give it the extra cooling when I am out to a Canucks game or something.

BaLa · Post by **BaLa** » Sat Jan 05, 2002 1:02 am

Originally posted by Eugene4Pres
Have you guys think of the money you would save if you shut it down instead of letting it go on for months? I usually shut down my computer to give it the extra cooling when I am out to a Canucks game or something.

hmm good point..

my parents might hgive a crap if they had to pay the power...

we live on a millitary base...

poptom · Post by **poptom** » Sat Jan 05, 2002 1:47 am

Last year I had one running only while I was using it because it was too noisy. Now I have three quiet ones on all the time. Power usage is only 3% greater. Usually turn off the monitors.

BaLa · Post by **BaLa** » Sat Jan 05, 2002 2:10 am

Originally posted by poptom
Last year I had one running only while I was using it because it was too noisy. Now I have three quiet ones on all the time. Power usage is only 3% greater. Usually turn off the monitors.

monitors use prolly close to as much as the comp itself.... (depending on the size of the monitor)...

MY Athlon 1.4ghz is pretty loud..
1 7k rpm Delta HSF
3x 80mm
HDD Cooler

I only sleep like 6ft from it..
I can handle it..

sometimes when I mess with the hardware I turn it off (no chit) and I'm like DAMN it's quite now..
I've gotten used to it though ..

terrancelam · Post by **terrancelam** » Sat Jan 05, 2002 2:39 am

personally, I leave my computer on wheneven I can, turn it on and off and insanely bad for the comp, you'll find out if you do that alot.

Secondly, I leave my comp on for a reason, downloads. On DSL, its fast, but sometimes you need hours to dl things and thats when over nighters come in handy.

This is where proper air flow comes in, if you have a very "condensed" innard inside your case, I wouldn't suggest it at all, as the heat will just recycle inside of the case, not only making it stagnant, but raising your system temperatures MUCH higher then it would normally be. Right now I kinda have that problem, but I solve it by leaving one of the case pannels open (dust galore). As for the OS. 2000/XP, it'll works as if you just turn on the comp.

Illini25 · Post by **Illini25** » Sat Jan 05, 2002 12:11 pm

I've had this computer 3 years, and have only turned it off when I know I'll be gone for vacation or an extended weekend break. Other than that, I usually leave it on most of the times and usually reboot when I'm going to be on it for awhile. I can't complain about IBM's very much, it's been very good with me. (knock on wood)

Gaming-Module · Post by **Gaming-Module** » Sat Jan 05, 2002 12:55 pm

I turn mine off every night. I just can't sleep knowing my computer is running without me.

How would you rate the harm this does to a machine, shutting it down nightly I mean?

CableDude · Post by **CableDude** » Sat Jan 05, 2002 1:04 pm

I've shut mine down nightly for years without problems.

HalfLifer · Post by **HalfLifer** » Sat Jan 05, 2002 1:15 pm

I keep mine on.

Off and on puts alot of wear and tear on the system. Harddrive takes a hit first.

JamieLee2k · Post by **JamieLee2k** » Sat Jan 05, 2002 2:24 pm

well I have a server on my computer and it's on all the time and there is now harm in it

Juggernaut · Post by **Juggernaut** » Sat Jan 05, 2002 4:26 pm

With proper cooling so it doesn't overheat, leaving it on would be technically better because the components won't cool down and heat up over and over again. But I doubt that it makes a really big difference either way...when components are basically out of date in a few years anyways, by the time the actual tole of turning the computer off and on takes affect, u would have replaced them. I like to leave my computer on just because you don't have to wait for it to boot/shutdown

Just shut off the monitor and your good to go.

Plus, like terrancelam said...those overnight d/l's are a must

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Should i leave my computer on all the time?

Should i leave my computer on all the time?

running 24/7 also

well