Community weekly poll: Poll: Do you turn off your computer when it's not in use?
- 1/25/08 3:02 PM
Poll: Do you turn off your computer when it's not in use?
by vanmandt - 1/26/08 12:08 PM In reply to: Poll: Do you turn off your computer when it's not in use? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Yes. To save energy I always turn it off if it will be more than 1 hour before using it again.
No, Poll: Do you turn off your computer when it's not in use
by grfant - 1/26/08 12:10 PM In reply to: Poll: Do you turn off your computer when it's not in use? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
No, I do not turn my compute off when its not in use, why? I am a computer tech and I repair emergency 911 and law enforcement computer equipment that is always on, 24hrs a day...the first thing I found is their equipment lasts longer than every body's private home computers. Yes, their equipment is a higher quality, it has to be, but its not that much different. Heat is the enemy here, going from hot to cold, cold to hot. I do use all my power conservation tools, like standby and hibernation, and they come on quickly when I am not at my computer. I want my personal computer to last as long as possible, but I am also concerned about the enviormental issues here. I am now turning everything off when I am gone for serveral days at a time, and when there is threating weather outside.
turning it off
by nanr42 - 1/26/08 12:11 PM In reply to: Poll: Do you turn off your computer when it's not in use? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Yes, I always turn it off or put on hibernate when I'm not using it, because, well, I'm not using it, so why should I leave it on? I use it intermittently during the day, so if I'm not using it then, I turn it off. I don't understand why people leave computers on all night, or even for several hours if they aren't using them? Why do you? Do you leave the iron or the TV on when you aren't using them? Or the oven? What's the difference?
Off Except When
by WildClay - 1/26/08 12:49 PM In reply to: Poll: Do you turn off your computer when it's not in use? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I turn my personal use PC off except when I know it will be just an hour or so that I will not be using it. When I go to bed or to work it is always turned off, no point in leaving it on.
I have heard the argument of on vs off for years as far as making it last longer, and have been using PC's since you had to build your own, I have never had a hardware issue and keep a system on the average of 3-4 years, sometimes shorter if there is a significant speed or feature/function change.
At work I manage data center where the systems are on all the time, and when that is the case, especially after one has run for a year or more without being turned off the risk of them smoking when you power them back up does seem higher, but I don't think that is the case in a machine that is routinely powered on and off, like a home PC.
Besides the waste in power, all of the parts, includung the disk and fans have a MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) and that is clocked by actul on-time so turning your PC off when not in use raises the probability of it lasting longer. Most data centers refresh hardware every three years, perform regular maintenance and have very clean power, none of these things usually happens with the home PC.
Leaving your PC on 24x7 is just going to mean that much more wear on all parts, more dirt and dust drawn in by the fan(s), and a shorter life span in calendar years for all parts, especially any moving parts.
Never...
by mdburkey - 1/26/08 12:52 PM In reply to: Poll: Do you turn off your computer when it's not in use? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
First off, I am not your typical user.
I have 5 PC's running continuously at all times -- and they are never turned off. My home server hasn't even been restarted since sometime in Dec 2006. Also, two of my PC's are HTPC's that need to be on for video recording and DVR usage. My primary machine is also configured for RDP so I can access it from work -- and my experience has show that WOL magic packets are too tempermental to trust for remote wakeup (primarily because the IC vendors rarely ever apparently fully test this function before shipping).
First off, the power draw of these units is not that great -- the most power hungry unit of the bunch is my main desktop and it uses about 110W (~140VA) when idling (Q6600, 8800GTS, etc). The others tend to be in the 80W range when at Idle.
A few comments:
The odds of a hacker breaking into your system are remote -- especially if you have even a minimal firewall in place. For stopping an inbound intrusion almost ANY NAT router makes a very effective firewall (assuming you don't have a DMZ setup) just due to how NAT works. If you have tons of spyware and trojans on your system or no firewall or router, then you are vulnerable at ANY time anyway -- and you need to get your PC fixed anyway.
If you leave your PC off at night, most scheduled Virus Scans, MS Updates, etc never occur -- or have to occur while you are working on the machine. When a full virus scan is going on, most machines are basically unusable -- or at least noticably sluggish. If you do not have updates turned on and anti-virus/anti-spyware on your PC, then you shouldn't even be connecting this PC to the internet at all!
Hardware lasts LONGER when it is running constantly. The hardest things on hardware are the start/stop cycles. This is one reason why laptop hard drives tend to wear out faster than desktop drives -- they generally spin down to save power when no read happens for a minute or so. This is generally much more taxing on the motor and spindle. Constant RPM's are *much* easier on the mechanism.
Additionally, at startup the CPU and other components receive much more stress when they are started and stopped. First off, the heating/cooling cycles on the chipset and other other components are quite abrupt at startup and the thermal expansion/contraction that occurs will over time lead to cracked solder joints and failure. I expect too see this getting even more common in the next year or two now that everyone has shifted over to the bedamned RoHS compliant solders (which have much lower ductility -- to say nothing of the electromigration problems inherent in silver based solders).
Yes & no
by digiDave - 1/26/08 1:05 PM In reply to: Poll: Do you turn off your computer when it's not in use? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
we rarely use our laptop for anything but specific projects, so it gets turned off when we're through with the project (even though it's hooked up to a/c power). Our desktop is the one that gets used periodically throughout the day, including occasional and somewhat sporadic internet access, so we turn it on when one of us is ready to do something and I turn it off late in the evening when it's determined that we're both finished for the day. Most of our automatic & manual computer maintenance is done late in the day (some during suppertime), so we usually leave it on till after these jobs are completed.
Do you turn off your computer when it's not in use?
by jaytmoon - 1/26/08 1:28 PM In reply to: Poll: Do you turn off your computer when it's not in use? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I use Hibernate most of the time. I'll turn it off (shutdown) if I'm going to do work inside the box.
Most of the time
by Ed-duh-win - 1/26/08 1:42 PM In reply to: Poll: Do you turn off your computer when it's not in use? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I do turn my laptop off, but when I'm runnig a particularily long overnight scan, I leave it on.
Sleep Mode
by a-line - 1/26/08 1:53 PM In reply to: Poll: Do you turn off your computer when it's not in use? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Macs have what they call sleep mode. I guess its like hibernation for PC. I put my iMac in sleep mode for the night and the next day I just hit my space bar or mouse and my Mac turns on within 2 seconds. Its just so much faster to do but If you are not going to use your Mac or PC for a few days, its better to shut it off.
When do I turn off my computer and why?
by arminfields - 1/26/08 1:59 PM In reply to: Poll: Do you turn off your computer when it's not in use? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I shut off my computer at night, when I'm done for the day as I see no reason to leave it on (and I save some energy).
I put it to sleep during the day when I have a 1-2 hour interruption or into hibernate, if the interruption is longer in order to save energy.
Can someone tell me the difference in energy savings between shut off and hibernate, and between hibernate and sleep?
(I have a 1.50 GHz processor, 2MB RAM, and Windows Vista Home Premium on a Fujitsu portable that I use 7 days a week as a desktop replacement)
Armin
computers
by rarebeauty - 1/26/08 2:05 PM In reply to: Poll: Do you turn off your computer when it's not in use? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I often turn off my computer except when Im coming right back to it.
Because I believe in conserving energy and find it wasteful to leave anything on.
No, I do not turn my computer off when not in use.
by jpinckard - 1/26/08 2:14 PM In reply to: Poll: Do you turn off your computer when it's not in use? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I am a physician who reads imaging studies online. I sometimes get calls in the middle of the night, even when not on call, to read a study & I need to be able to do so in a timely fashion. I used to have a couple of free programs that I used to check my computer but they caused some conflict with my Trend PCcillin so I do not use them anymore. I am concerned about hackers & would like to know how to prevent them invading my laptop. I notice that Dave recommends CounterSpy and Zone Alarm plus free Avast! home edition antivirus & wonder if they would cause any conflict.
Joyce
I put my Vista laptop in sleep mode
by jthelw - 1/26/08 2:23 PM In reply to: Poll: Do you turn off your computer when it's not in use? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I try to avoid rebooting because the system is buggy and takes forever to get all my programs up and running, although I have some limited usage at startup.
No
by SamdarshXpress - 1/26/08 2:41 PM In reply to: Poll: Do you turn off your computer when it's not in use? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Whenever my pc is idle, i always hear songs or run an antivirus scan.
I never shut it down
However while sleeping it is off.
I turn it off
by paulcw3 - 1/26/08 3:06 PM In reply to: Poll: Do you turn off your computer when it's not in use? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I turn my computer off when not in use because it makes sense to me, I don't leave the 400 watt toaster on 24/7 ,I don't leave the water turned on at the washer when I'm not using it either. I guess it's a savings and safety thing, I turn off power strips too, I have seen a few that have burned up, again a safety thing.
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
