Community poll forum: Poll: Do you turn off your computer when it's not in use?

If you are not using it, you should shut it down. that said, I don't.

I am a partner in a small WISP and I leave my pc up hot all the time. I don't know when the next crisis with my network will happen, and I need to start diagnostics as soon as I sit down to my PC.

Now my other electronics? The laptop is always powered down unless its being used, the same goes for my wife's desktop and laptop. We don't run our entertainment system 24/7 either.

Want a fast way to cut some kilowatts off your utility bill? Buy a new refigerator and replace all your incandessence lamps with CFL's. We did that and saw an immidiate improvement.

Just some ideas form the stix. . .

Use my desk top randomly from 4:30 am to 10:00 pm. Do a lot of investing/trading, put it to sleep in between use but just can tolerate the "Windows" startup delay in what I do. Have a energy star flat screen for lower power consumption than prior CRT units.
Also use a Toshiba laptop when on the go and hibernate it M-F and shut down over the weekend.

Yes i turn off power, in case of fire,, to keep out unwanted viruses hackers etc (hopefully)keep the bill down for electricity...

I leave my computer on most of the time and do not concern myself with energy savings, the electricity used for computing is somewhat moderate in my home, as I have at least three computers on most of the time. I see very little logic in inconveniencing myself with making the extra effort to shut down and restart the computers throughout the day. I am concerned with the environment, but I also realize that we can exist in this environment without much adjustment. I also see many of the loudest advocates (Al Gore, et. al.) Running around in large gas guzzlers and having power usage 3 to 5 times that of the average home. So I ask myself..."If the proponents of conservation are abusing the resources, why should I go out of my way to save just so they can use more?" I suspect that Mr. Gore and others are less interested in the preservation of the planet and more concerned with how much they can benefit by getting others to follow a path lined with falsehood.

Many of us who leave our machines on 24/7 do so because we can't turn them off! Many of us are in business critical situations where the machines need to be constantly monitoring or controlling something. In other cases, machines are part of a collective computing effort which uses donated bandwidth from a large community of machines to accomplish some specific task (e.g. SETI).

I would only rush to call someone irresponsible if they left their machine on without taking the trouble to reduce the power consumed as much as possible. For example, many have commented that they leave their machines on but turn the monitors off. That's responsible if you can't turn the machine off.

Somewhat more troubling is all the advice to simply put the machine to sleep. Depending on nature of this (sleep, standby, and hibernate mean different things for different machines and different OSs), "sleeping" may leave the machine using a reduced amount of, but still some, electricity. The main thing putting your machine in such a state does is to save a little bit of startup time and/or inconvenience. Of course, there are other factors... For example, some machines consume the most power during startup, so the issue isn't really clear cut.

most of the time

except when im downloading something

I thought the computer was suppose to be turned off when not in use. For energy saving as well as for the good of the computer. Besides saving energy(is there really any) is it bad to leave it on all of the time? I turn on when I get up but then turn off when I go to bed. Sometimes that is only a matter of 3-4 hours. I have DSL for internet, does that make any difference? debbiedianel waiting to be informed! Thanks

Yes at night. I turn off the computer at the end of the day, but leave it running during the day, whether I am using it or not. At night I like the fact that someone can not hack into it as I have a direct cable hookup to the internet. A second reason is that if the power were to fail or spike, it may lessen the chance for corruption of the files or the hard drive. The third reason is that it does conserve electricity, and lastly even the "quiet" fans make noise, and it is nice to have pure silence.

Rick. R.

Yes I do for the following reasons;
a. Conservation of power.
b. Security

anderstn@sisqtel.net TEA

I've seen similar responses from a number of people. Folks, there is really good software out there - some of it free - to protect you from viruses and spyware!

I've been using PCs since they first came out (and Apples before then), and mine have to run 24/7. I've always been paranoid about security and willing to pay for the best security suite available (hint: it's not the consumer version of Norton that seemingly every PC on the planet ships with). As a result, in 20+ years, I've never had a problem with malware.

If anyone knows what they're doing and is reasonably careful, any argument about leaving your computer on or turning it off due to the threat of malware is a straw man.

Used to keep it on 24/7 for security updating, but update as soon as I log on. Keep it off to keep it from being used to send out spam or worse, at least while I'm not on line.

I have always turned my computer off after use. I see no point in leaving anything electrical turned on when not in use. I've been into computers since the days of the Arpa Net, and things were not so reliable then, so in those days it was because there would be more chance of a breakdown. I've carried this habit on. These days it's both,conserving energy and improving reliability. I always leave certain devices on standby for over night updates, such as Set Top Boxes and Digital TVs. DVRs cannot be turned off completely except by the mains switch, and then you usually lose the clock. Manufacturers really should create a way of turning things on and off without needing a mains standby mode, maybe with a substantial battery backup. Older VCRs often had this kind of standby mode. Even if standby is only 1 watt, this represents a Megawatt if one million sets are left on standby, and there are millions of TVs in the UK, and even greater numbers in the US. Computers often consume more than the average LCD TV, so these are the biggest offenders, and should at least be turned to standby when not in use.

Dave Newman(UK)

Matter of convenience. Either complete power-down or hibernation requires a long boot-up. Leaving it on allows me to just drop in anytime to check my Email, or look up something on an online database. I think PC power requirements are pretty low, anyway. I have it set to auto standby the LCD monitor and spin down the hard drives if it's idle very long. This adds only a few seconds, if any, to readiness time.

A friend of mine always powers his down. This irritates me because he as a result doesn't check his Email very often, in particular my Emails to him.

I think the whole global warming thing is a lot of bunk. If there even is any warming, doubtful, it's not because of increased CO2 levels. Rather it's been shown that the increased CO2 levels are a result of, among other things, warming of the oceans, which releases dissolved CO2. That's why increases in CO2 LAG increases in global temperature by a few hundred years. Most global temperature rise is a result of increased SOLAR activity. That's why Mars is also getting warmer, without ANY man-made CO2 emissions.

In any case, our grandchildren won't be worrying about this, because they will have the advanced technological tools to deal with it. Just like we don't worry about what worried our great-grandparents.

I just had to reply .... Nature does not need to conserve energy, it creates its own energy. Man is the only being that consumes energy and therefor the one who needs to conserve it.

A lot of replies were about switching off due to security. If you have to switch off for security, you should really not even switch on - your PC security should be the best money can buy. The 2 things that should always be up to date on your computer are your security and operating system. I have used Norton Internet for many years and apart from a few diseases caused by my own stupidity, I have never picked up a virus ... but it is the first thing that updates when I switch my PC on. Always remember that virusus are spread, not by their programmers, but rather by the ordinary people who fail to observe the basic security rules.
Clipper

Sometime's I'm downloading stuff, and then I leave it on.