Desktops: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad
Re:Re: Leave it on and suck in the dust
by sskantor - 4/20/04 9:01 PM In reply to: Re: Leave it on and suck in the dust by jensfi use hibernating all the time and it really saves time rebooting..however I do turn it off at night
Re:Re: Leave it on and suck in the dust
by lwos - 11/26/04 10:23 AM In reply to: Re:Re: Leave it on and suck in the dust by sskantorOn my home computer, I turn it on in the morning & leave it on, shutting it down overnight. I have dusted out the tower a couple/3 times over the last 6 years.
I keep the tower OFF the floor, on a block of wood ( I have carpeting on the floor) which seems to help keep the dust from getting inside & allows for better airflow the machine. I NEVER clean it in the winter...once the furnace kicks in, because of Static electricity.
The only thing I've had to replace after 6 years of constant use, was the on / off plastic button on the tower. It broke.
Re:Re: Leave it on and suck in the dust
by boyx46 - 6/7/04 2:45 AM In reply to: Re: Leave it on and suck in the dust by jensfI currently use 6 PC's and always used to leave 'em on. However, one of the shop units recently burnt out needing a call from the fire brigade. It's a pizza shop with stacks of food dust about so I've first hand evidence that dust causes problems.
However, I still leave the office ones on.
Re: Leave it on and suck in the dust
by soder72 - 11/28/04 8:23 AM In reply to: Re: Leave it on and suck in the dust by jensfI leave mine on all the time, but with the new desk I've got, the fan and dust tend to over heat the complete unit. So with the aid of a small box fan and the the cover off I've been blowing the dust straight thru, obviously not recommended, but for the busy schedule and the design of the desk, it does the trick and no dirty motherboard and no overheating.
Re: Leave it on and suck in the dust and replace the batter
by WornHall - 1/12/05 1:19 PM In reply to: Re: Leave it on and suck in the dust by jensfThose are good examples and decisions. Please consider the poor laptop where different solution(s) are found, and a couple of special cases also.
The question dodged the power-hog, the monitor: tube/crt types should be shut down to standby after 15 minutes of inactivity. In standby, the power consumption and wear is minimal. Same for "flat/thin", plasma/lcd monitors, but this time to prevent burnin or just plain using up the service life of the pixels rather than wasting power.
We have:
The server: always on, clean while it is running with compressed air and full sized vacuum sucking the flow of dust as it comes out of the case area. If it can be turned off for p.m., treat same as desktop.
The desktop: On when you are returning within a brief period, otherwise standby, then hibernate. Standby uses power while hibernate shuts down completely. So, three solutions, depending on probability of returning.
Classroom - off at end of class. Cleaning - once a year turn off, remove the case cover, and vacuum using the soft brush, assisted by an air-blower cannister.
Laptops have two environments; on the go and in the docking port or its equivalent. For either, treat the battery first and foremost; use short-durations to switch to standby, then to hibernate. Cleaning - like the classroom,, but do not open the case.
Hospital, lab, and special environament - run as needed, don't fuss with standby or hibernate. Clean as for server or desktop. Be carefull.
Having used and worked on hundreds of computers, those are the formulae that seem to balance power, convenience, and longevity.
Warren
Re:Leave the computer on
by keyguy - 4/19/04 7:05 AM In reply to: Leave the computer on by ComputerdogI am also a computer repair technician. You're going to have dust and dirt accumulation whether it is left on OR off. You'll need to clean it every so often. Leaving it on won't hurt it.
Re:Re:Leave the computer on
by eddings1 - 4/19/04 7:52 AM In reply to: Re:Leave the computer on by keyguyI agree. Leaving on will not hurt the machine. But you have to remember that windows 9x needs to be restarted occasionally for optimum performance. As far as cleaning goes you will need to clean your machine every six months or so to keep the dust and dirt from getting too thick on your chips. One last thing to consider is if you smoke take special care and clean your machine a little sooner(about 4 months) as the nicotine from tobacco smoke will stick to your chips and attract more dust. If left too long it will actually cement the dirt and dust to the chip severely shortening the life of the chip as it cannot diisapate the heat as fast as it would if it were clean. So yes leave it on but make sure you clean it regularly
Re: Some technical fact-based answers on whether to power off your PC
by cxr - 4/20/04 1:08 AM In reply to: Re:Leave the computer on by keyguyI see there are an awful lot of postings on this subject, mostly personal, non-fact-based opinions. While I am not discounting anyone's personal experiences, here are some facts to correct a few of the erroneous assumptions that people seem to have.
Bottom line:
It is 100% ok to power your system off overnight or over the weekend when you are not using it. I do it on my own personal systems at home. Please keep reading to understand why.
(I am re-posting this again from an earlier msg).
---
I have designed computer components and systems for over 15 years and worked on several large computer-manufacturing facilities, which have produced many consumer and industrial-grade PCs and Server Systems (I won't plug my employer's products but many of you are running these systems today). Here is my opinion on the subject of whether to leave your system powered on or off. Disclaimer: this is strictly my personal opinion and not endorsed by my employer.
The system manufacturers, as well as the component manufacturers (power supplies, disk drives, fans, boards, monitors, etc) go through rigorous product development and QA to determine the life span/failure rate/cause-of-failure of each component. While some of this data, from system manufacturers, are not made public, much of the component's MTBF (mean time between failure) data, optimal operating voltage and temperature/humidity range, etc, are available to everyone.
Due to improvements in component and system manufacturing, we are building far better products today. The answers below apply mostly to systems built in the last few (5-7?) years.
Some (of the more reputable) component manufacturers build very solid products, but not everyone is equally good. Some of the "cheaper" components and brands tend to fail more often, some by as much as 200-300%. These failures, especially on the power supplies and disk drives, are more susceptible to power surges when the system is turned on and off regularly. However, the rate of failure is also higher for these same components when you run them continuously (due to "normal" wear and tear, etc). In the interest of brevity, I won't go into detail on the different causes of failure for each component, but to sum up, for "lesser quality" components, it doesn't make much difference whether you run the system continuously or power it up and down every night -- both will increase failure rate.
For computer systems built many years ago, power cycling the system, which caused voltage/current surge in the system, have caused a high percentage of failures. This historical information lead to the popular belief today that powering the system up and down a lot is bad. While there are exceptions (see below), unfortunately, that "myth" is less true today.
Today's PCs, especially for home/small business users, have more than adequately rated components to handle repeated power cycling of the system. Power supplies have surge control circuits as do some motherboards, disk drives, etc. Disk drives have built-in ramp-up curves. Temperature regulation for chips and boards have gotten quite good so as long as you operate it within the spec range, you should be fine. In other words, it is not as much of a problem for today's systems to have chips and boards heat up and cool down, or have drives spin up and down, as it used to be.
Again, this is assuming that your computer manufacturer uses quality components and has done their R&D in quality assembly and testing.
As a previous post correctly stated, continuously running a system will definitely cause "normal" wear and tear. This applies to disk drives (high RPM spin rate, head wear and tear, other mechanical issues, etc), power supplies, and fans more than other components. In our "real world" test labs, this can cause failures sooner (mostly due to other factors; again, see below) than powering the system on and off regularly, but it is still well past the published MTBF rating.
As an example, a typical Western Digital 80GB 10,000 rpm ATA drive has a MTBF of 1,200,000 hours (135+ years) and a start/stop reliability of 20,000 cycles (55+ years, if you turn it on and off once a day, every day). It is safe to say that this component will hold up pretty well for the normal lifespan of a computer, regardless of what you do.
Some different rules apply when you are running high-end servers or multiple CPUs with large disk arrays and accessory components. These systems will draw a lot more current upon start-up and run at a higher temperature. This extra high current draw can shorten the life of the components, but continuously running it at an elevated temperature will also cause early failure. This is the reason why large servers need filtered clean power, air conditioned temperature regulation, and it is better to run them continuously, in a controlled environment, than to power cycle them frequently.
However, the normal, everyday, consumer desktop PCs or laptops have more-than-adequate components to handle both running continuously as well as daily power cycles.
The bottom line and a few recommendations:
. For newer systems, built in the last 5-7 years by reliable manufacturers, it is fine to turn it off at the end of the day. If you want to run it continuously for whatever reason and don't mind paying a little extra for the electricity use, that is ok too.
. The biggest enemy, by far, are environmental factors, such as temperature, dirty power, and dust. It is far more critical to keep these in check to maintain the health and longevity of your system:
- Built-up heat is always a big problem, so maintain adequate ventilation and don't let it overheat (for example, keep the system out of direct sunlight or a hot room in the summertime)
- Don't overload the system with too many disk drives or high amperage components. It will unduly stress the power supply.
- Put a good Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) w/ filtered battery power on your system (avg cost = $50-$90).
- Keep it clean and dust-free inside. Every 6 months or so, power the system down, remove the side cover, and carefully vacuum out the dust. For the average home/small business user, you will be surprise how much dust can accumulate inside. The dust causes the fan to work less efficiently, which causes overheating & component degradation. Dust accumulated on circuit boards also acts as insulation, creating heat build-up and possibly even short-circuiting boards (by *large* dust balls). Almost all hard drives shipped today are hermetically sealed, so they are not as susceptible, mechanically, to dust compared to drives built many years ago, but dust is still bad for overheating, causing component degradation.
Hope this helps.
Re: Some technical fact-based answers on whether to power of
by jeaniepooh - 11/26/04 3:15 AM In reply to: Re: Some technical fact-based answers on whether to power off your PC by cxrYour information was excellent. However, at the risk of sounding stupid, can you tell me where the slide cover is on my computer? You said to remove it and vaccum out the dust; is it on the front of my modem or where? Thank you
Re: Some technical fact-based answers on whether to power of
by Butch F. - 11/26/04 5:07 AM In reply to: Re: Some technical fact-based answers on whether to power of by jeaniepoohHe said side cover, not slide cover, and the newer computers let you remove just the one side to access the components of the computer. The older computers had the entire top and sides as one piece and you had to remove the entire thing to access the components.
Also, if you use a soft brush attachment on your vacuum, you can clean anywhere you see dust. Be sure to clean around the power supply and the CPU fan.
Re: Some technical fact-based answers on whether to power of
by doughboy - 11/26/04 5:33 PM In reply to: Re: Some technical fact-based answers on whether to power of by jeaniepoohon the side of the tower you may or maynot need to remove two screws from the back of the cover.some covers have a indentation where to slide.
Re: Some technical fact-based answers on whether to power of
by rfred0707 - 11/27/04 1:02 PM In reply to: Re: Some technical fact-based answers on whether to power of by jeaniepoohthe slide cover is part of your computer case, or "tower." There should be screws in the back (where most of your connections are). Remove these and you should be able to slide the slide cover off, revealing your system's componets. this cover should slide off the side. Do not bend anything. You should not experience too much resistance. If you do, check to see if you have missed a screw in the back.
Re: Some technical fact-based answers on whether to power of
by donaldjwatson - 11/27/04 7:51 PM In reply to: Re: Some technical fact-based answers on whether to power off your PC by cxrThanks Dude,
I really appreciate the comprehensive report you posted. It gives us average "Joe's" a great deal of
insight from a pro's perspective.
Take care,
Re: Some technical fact-based answers on whether to power of
by doc_36_01 - 11/28/04 5:12 AM In reply to: Re: Some technical fact-based answers on whether to power of by donaldjwatsoni vacuumed the inside of my tower once and leaned the hard way that it created a static charge apparently because of the fast moving air flow created by the wacuum which fried my motherboard ,i suggest using canned air and put your finger on the heatsink fan to stop it from turning while blowing the dust out ,and do not inhale cause it tastes like crap lol
Re: Some technical fact-based answers on whether to power of
by LifeOnEdge - 11/28/04 1:44 PM In reply to: Re: Some technical fact-based answers on whether to power off your PC by cxrSimply put (in 1000 words or less): blah, blah, blah, blah, blah ...
I would *hate* to be this person's kid!!!
Look at the data that he gives: 2.5x failure rate turning the system off daily vs leaving it on. Leave it on ... clean the system regularly (every 6 months.)
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
