Check out the Dell Store on CNET
Desktops: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad
Re: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad
by Spockva - 11/27/04 5:13 AM In reply to: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad by tyrantigerAll I can say is that when I was in the military, we were told not to turn off our computers because the power surges this causes is bad for the circuitry. We were alos told that it was better for the hrd drive to let it turn constantly instead of having to spin up and down. Don't know if these are true, but my home desktop computer has been running for four years without any problems.
Re: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad
by btborst1 - 11/27/04 5:40 AM In reply to: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad by tyrantigerI have been using personal computers from the first pc and have always left them running 24/7. It was my impression that the greatest load or shock was when the machine was turned on and off. I will be interested to see what other members think.
Re: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad
by mwwilk - 11/27/04 6:51 AM In reply to: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad by tyrantigerPutting aside the arguments about hardware longevity, if your PC is turned off, it can't be hacked or get a virus. Yes, there is Wake-on-LAN in a lot of PCs these days, but I've not heard of that working outside of a corporate LAN environment. I do agree about the dust and fuzz accumulation being heavier when the PC is left on frequently. I see a lot of people who shove their CPUs in cubby holes with very little ventilation --- heat build up is not good.
Re: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad
by skippy - 11/27/04 7:44 AM In reply to: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad by tyrantigerWell, I have a 5 years old Dell that stays on night & day, I was doing the same with my previous HP and never had a problem. Despite that, I would recomand that after turning your PC "On" it would be best to leave it on till the end of the day, it's better for the power supply. Make sure the tower is free of dust, open it and clean it at least twice a year.
Re:
by bswis322 - 11/27/04 8:24 AM In reply to: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad by tyrantigerOK this is the dilly..I leave my system on all the time. If you are running windows 95 or 98 it really does not like bieing turned off. Those OS`s run much better when they are hot.. Now XP is a little better at bieing turned off. But leave it on all the time anyway.
There is a thing called a vacuum cleaner to rid of system dust. You can buy little adapters that mount to your vacuum cleaner to clean small system parts. CPU fans, heatsinks and system fans. Heck your whole motherboard and components. I do it about once every 6 months of so. Since 1992 I have only lost one hard drive due to age..Not dust collection..
Re:
by purplejoy9 - 11/27/04 9:41 AM In reply to: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad by tyrantigerAt work we keep our computers on 24 hours per day. My computer was barely two years old when the fan quit working. Within seconds the hard drive burned up. All my data was lost. Management can't decide if turning the machine off at night would have made it last longer or not.
Re:
by excaliber - 11/27/04 10:15 AM In reply to: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad by tyrantigerIt's really a matter of choice. The idea is that turning the PC on and off causes "power surges", unnecessary disk usage, etc.... On the flip side leaving the machine on continually can cause overheating, burnin on the monitor, expose the machine to hacking. Basically today the best reason to leave the machine on is that you don't have to wait for the machine to boot when you want to use it and if you use it every day that can be a considerable factor in your decision. In fact, unless you use it regularly I would recommend turning it off when not in use - if you only use it two or three times a week you will save wear and tear on the power supply and other components - although it's probably not significant (the machine might last longer, but the way the technology changes it seems most users end up with new machines before the old one goes bad).
These days with the newer energy efficient machines with decent cooling systems it's really your choice. Personally I leave the machine on most of the time. I reboot once every week or two just to clear memeory, refresh the page file, etc.... which can also be done with software without a reboot. If you are going to leave the machine on you do need some protection - especially if you have a cable or dsl connection to the internet. A good firewall is a must as is a good anti-virus program and they should both be left running at all times. I use zone alarm pro, and simply block all internet traffic (from the task bar icon) when not using the machine. Burnin is not a problem since you can use the power settings to blank the monitor after a specific period of time. The same applies to dasd - you can use power controls to stop dasd activity after a specific period of inactivity. Also, I would recommend taking a restore point at least once a week if you are going to leave the machine on. A restore point will be taken automatically with win xp if you restart the machine. I also recommend running adaware and spybot search and destroy at regular intervals and doing a full virus scan a minimum of every two weeks just for safety. Last - turn off the machine if it is not going to be used for an extended period of time - i.e. you're away on vacation.
Re: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad
by Cefoxtrot - 11/27/04 11:22 AM In reply to: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad by tyrantigerI keep them on all the time, unless going out of town for an extended period. It takes them too long to boot up, so the extra expenses associated with that are a good trade off to me.
Re:
by bumperman - 11/27/04 11:34 AM In reply to: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad by tyrantigerThe great debate... my last pc, a HP PIII, stayed on from 99-2004; I only turned it off if I was out of town for a few weeks---now I have a new Dell 8300--I hope I can say the same in 5 years!
C'mon experts, tell us, is this wrong?
waiting to hear.....
Re: TURN IT OFF
by Scottflyer - 11/27/04 11:37 AM In reply to: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad by tyrantigerIf you're going to use it again in an hour or two, leave it on. Leaving it on for long periods of time increases wear on moving components such as disk drives and fans, leading to early failure. It also wastes power. The constant airflow also accumulates dust which eventually can cause overheating and failed components.
Turning on and off with older computers created spikes that don't happen when you leave it on, causing semiconductor failure. Not only are today's power supplies fairly free of these spikes, but newer semiconductors are much more immune from them.
Heat cycling is another factor. Frequent heat cycling can accelerate aging in semiconductors - bringing premature failure - and to some extent this is true, however the MTBF (mean time between failure) is so high on semiconductors today that it really isn't much of a factor anymore.
Finally, when you leave your pc on, you use power. It is bad for the environment and for your pocketbook. For example, at $0.10 per kilowatt hour, a 500 watt PC will cost about $35 per month to operate 24/7. If it is off most of the time, you'll save most of that money. In many areas power is more expenaive than $0.10 per kilowatt hour.
Re: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad
by gmd1 - 11/27/04 12:19 PM In reply to: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad by tyrantigerwhat are the pros & cons of shutting my compter off frequently ?
gmd1
Re:
by computquest - 11/28/04 11:08 AM In reply to: Re: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad by gmd1I don't see an advantage to using shutdown frequently except if you use many different programs, especially third party applications, simultaneously. Otherwise, it causes extra work by the harddrive by making it search needlessly to load the startup menu programs, etc. over again.
I often go for a month before restarting my computer since I avoid actively using most programs besides Outlook Express and Internet Explorer. I am not counting programs like RegProt, antivirus, Adaware, Spybot S&D or Windows firewall. RegProt, antivirus, and a firewall should always be running.
Re: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad
by marlajune - 11/27/04 1:09 PM In reply to: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad by tyrantigerIf a person has their computer on a battery back-up them leaving it on is fine. They still have to be rebooted from time to time regardless. If I leave town for several days I shut mine down to conserve electricity.
Re: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad
by Sam4X5 - 11/27/04 2:05 PM In reply to: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad by tyrantigerI am a pharmacist, and I use pharmacy software all day every day. Many chain stores have the same software. We use P3 800mHz machines with Win98. The man who wrote and maintains the software told us to never turn off our machines unless necessary. They run all the time- all night when we are gone. If we have a problem we reboot by shuting down legally if possible. They have been running problem free for 5 years now.
Re: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad
by mmedearis - 11/27/04 2:47 PM In reply to: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad by tyrantigerOn a day to day basis, I leave my computer on. If I am leaving town and have to travel, then I turn my system off. I figure the money I save with the system off durning long periods not at home is worth the small amount of wear and tear on the hard drive.
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
