Desktops forum: "turning off PC" = Good/Bad

2 separate issues.
A. when power is turned off or on "spikes" are generated which must be "killed" by the PS or they may damage components. Need a quality-built PS.
B. Heat ages all electronic components. Higher temp and longer run-time means shorter life. Monitor temps in the tray with MBM5 or similar program. Improve cooling, lower temps. I run 7 fans in my "big one".

I have thought the same thing about the brightness of the monitor screen. Brighter draws more power from the power supply and causes more heat in a CRT-based monitor and will shorten the life of the illumination components in an LCD type.

I am by no means an expert on HDD's but I have heard that turning your pc on /off regulary will deteriorate the life of the motor. They are very small and spinning the disc's of the drive to 56-7200 RPM's takes quite a bit from them. IT guys have told me that if the PC will not be used for an extended period of time (entire weekend) turn it off, otherwise it's easier on the drive motor to leave it running or use sleep mode. Hope this helps.

"well i heard that not turning off your pc will let your pc 'last' more longer, is that true? what kind of pc is suitable for that and what kind is not?"

Generally speaking, turning on and off, on and off, on and off, is bad for any electrical appliance. It burns the wires, circuit and what-not faster (Try it out with a spare lightbulb if you want...)

Also, generally speaking, you'd only want to leave your computer on if you or your computer falls into the following simple category(s):
-A Server computer

-Too slow, and you don't want to waste 5 minutes to wait for it to boot up (Hey, that's what happens with my AMD K-6 266Mhz running Windows 2K... it literally takes 5 minutes or so to start up).

-You believe in the urban myth that turning off your computer DRASTICALLY reduces it's life...

-The computer is a workstation computer that needs to be left on for long periods of time on end to process information (E.g.: A computer used to render 3D Animations with ray-tracing and other CPU intensive tasks)

-Too lazy to turn your computer on and off all the time

Other then that, for an average Joe, there really isn't any reason to leave your computer on.
As for reasons why you might not want to leave it on...:
-Threats of Crackers (CRACKERS, NOT Hackers... Hackers are the "good guys"... Hackers are the people who work in the Pentagon protecting you "innocent" people from vicious CRACKERS), Trojans, Viruses, Worms, and other computer threats and malicious codes.

-You have a fast computer that will boot up in less then 30 seconds, so it doesn't matter if you turn off your computer

-You don't use the computer often, so it's saves power to leave the computer off.

Hmm... seems like my mind is blank. I think the biggest factor to whether or not you want to leave your computer on or off is the follow 3 points:
-Threat of crackers, viruses, trojans, worms, etc... (Basically, your paranoia factor)

-Electric Bills (Don't be surprised to see a drop of at least 30 bucks per month if you leave your computer off for at least 12 hours a day)

-The length of time it takes to boot up your computer (This actually seems to be one of THE main deciding factor for many people I know -- yes, many people I know still have their 486 or 286, including myself).

This wraps up my humble post with a word count of a mere 433 words.

-From your friendly neighbor, Bob Chance.

I've had some cases of computers left on, or turned off that have been left pluged in and a power surge or a near lighting strike has distroted the mother board and power supply. If you live in an area that tends to get a lot of lighting strikes or power surges, blinks, or brownouts then by all means turn it off and disconnect it from power if your not going to be around. As for the rest of you, it's up to you, personally if I'm not useing it , it's off and disconnected from power.

Well I haven't read the 509(?) posts here, but I used to leave my computer on far more than I do now, because I read some opinion that this was best ... maybe I confused leaving on fluorescent tubes, which use extra power at startup!

Anyway I had a breakdown which turned out to be due to dust accumulation and, of course, naturally fan motors will wear out the longer they are run; so now I shut down whenever I know I won't want my machine for a while.

An added advantage, in part because I have "System and Internet Washer" which is scheduled to do a clean-up when I shut down - but in any case a reboot doesn't hurt (far from it) - surely it makes sense to shut down?

Personally, I find that turning off the computer is advantageous for several reasons:
1. If your work area is carpeted, your unit will inhale an extraordinary amount of dust. It will on a hard floor too, but not as much as on carpet.

2.The only reason to leave the unit on would be to maintain temperature. If your work area is air conditioned, that is not a factor.

3.Security is much greater with the unit off, as it cannot be accessed online, unless you have installed some "remote startup" software.

4.Every time you shut the unit down, it cleans the memory; and if you run a startup virus scan, you can restart with the reassurance of a "probably" clean machine.

I leave my computer on during day, off at night

Continually or OFF-ON-OFF? an often asked question.
With a new computer or any electronic device the failrate of components is alwasys exponential. After about six months this fail-rate steadies. Thus in first six months do not switch on and off frequently ONCE a Day is Fine, after six months it makes little difference. Cooling fans work harder, but it depends on how many times you swich on a day. I would suggest if you are switching off for loger than 5 hours do so otherwise leave it on. That is my advise and I have had no problems for 4 years! (Electrical Engineer CENg.)

that's a saying people used to say a lot years ago, when computers weren't made very good and it was actually dangerous to keep turning it on and off. regardless of everything else, running your computer all the time will wear the moving parts out (hard drive, fans) and shorten the life of your monitor. if the cooling isn't exactly wonderful, it will also keep your computer running hot (and a little slower) to leave it on all the time. besides, you have to restart it to completely dump the RAM, which fills up and slows you down. the only advantage to leaving it on all the time is if you can't spare the time to start it up and shut it down. the only way that would be a problem is if you have a million things that are set to run on startup.

It goes either way in my book. I have always left my desktop on all the time just once a week reboot it for windows sake. I have no failures or issues to report. Dust and stuff dose come in but once a year blow it out like you should. It not going to cause any more or less if your home is well kept. My notebook is always off on the other hand.at night and when I'm not using it,it does not like standby.

if u put it on standby it wont burn the components but will resume your work instantly ^_^

There are over 500 opinions in this thread and at this point, most responses are just repeats of others in the topic.

Hope this helps.

Grif