On or Off?

Lost World said:

I've heard that shutting down and restarting computers on a regular basis decreases their service life, but perhaps this is an old wives tale.

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It's not an old wive's tale, not really. However people have a vastly skewed idea of what 'regular basis' is. To decrease service life from shutting down and restarting a computer would mean that you would have to do it every hour.

Shutting down a computer, in your case, will actually increase its service life. A computer that is constantly running is more likely to run into burnt out hardware than a computer that is turned off every night, or before you go out to the shops or something.

Turn your computer off- it'll save you a little electricity and your computer will love you for it. Not to mention that in a hot climate, leaving the computer off will knock a couple degrees off the temperature of your office

I leave my computer on. It's like leaving a 60 watt light bulb running. I used to have Uninterrupted Power Supply (aka battery backup) so even power failure couldn't disrupt my computering.

I usually turn the machine off if I'm going to be gone or unlikely to use it. But I'm on my computer almost all the time-- if I'm not at school teaching, I'm on the computer.

I'm totally not worried about potentially burning out hardware. It's just as likely, in my experience, with a machine that is turned off. In fact, it was Hubby's machine that blew a motherboard and later a power supply even those his machine is turned off most of the time. I like the convenience of having the machine on-- esp for emails since I work from home for 2 of my jobs.

If your computer is well-ventilated, then it's really up to you. Computers are designed to be turned on and off (and leaving it on too long can cause some screwiness since there are some processes that require reboot to clean up or work better.) But they can also run constantly-- as with some small businesses that will use an otherwise regular desktop machine as a server, and thus on all the time. (My folks used this sort of server when they first set up their computer store, once upon a time ago.)

And don't forget, running constantly or not, if your "desktop" computer sits on the floor, it will breed a dust zoo inside. Be kind to your computer and remove the herd from time to time. =)

I'm not sure it matters, but ours are on twenty-four seven. I've yet to see a computer give up teh ghost because it was left on, but I have see several die when they were first turned on during teh day.

We have one old computer here now that (barring two brief power outages) hasn't been shut off it almost three years, and was due to a move. It was on continuously for four years before that. My work computer hasn't been turned off in almost two years.

I doubt it really matters, but since I'm the only long time computer user I know who has never lost a hard drive or a motherboard, I'm just going to leave mine running.

I've never lost a hard drive or a motherboard -- and I shut down.

I have lost a monitor, horribly. Nothing like it for engendering paranoia. Since then, I'd rather not have anything "live" when I'm not around to push buttons, pull plugs, or grab a fire extinguisher.

If you don't, it goes to sleep (unless you are very into wasting electricity) and pretty much shuts down and cools off anyway.

I bought a new computer in 1999 (Dell 450MHz and a big-at-the-time 28 gig drive), ran it 24 hours a day, and the hard drive only died a year or so ago. It even had the original Windows 98 installation. Reinstalling Windows is almost always a sledgehammer approach to problems.

And yes, always set up the power options to turn off the monitor and stuff, because if it's sitting there for more than an hour you're likely not in front of it and the monitor might as well turn off.

But I think modern computers are reliable enough that it doesn't make any difference. You'll save electricity by turning it off. On the other hand, if the bootup time bugs you, just leave it on. Reboot once or twice a week, or whenever it seems slow or wonky, to clear out Microsoft's memory leaks and you'll be fine. I've run Ubuntu, but not for weeks and weeks of regular usage at a time, so I don't know if it has any such problems. I get the impression it doesn't.

And like someone else said, once a year open the case and blow out the dust. Dust buildup causes lowered airflow and more heat buildup, and if there's ever really high humidity the dust could absorb water from the air and become conductive, a bad thing.

ETA: Whether or not you run your computer all the time, you might want to "give away" extra CPU cycles to some distributed computing project or other. I do this one:
http://www.mersenne.org/
but not for the money, the chance of winning something is pretty low. Here's one of the biggest for medical research:
http://folding.stanford.edu/
And then there's the ever-popular one to find the elusive "LGM" signal:
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/

Or look at World Community Grid, which looks into research to combat childhood cancer and AIDS.

Then there's Enigma @ Home, which is trying to crack three Enigma messages intercepted in the North Atlantic in 1942, and are believed to still be unbroken.

But I leave my Mac mini at home up the entire time I'm around. I'm running the various CPU cycles and the shut down/start up probably would run it down.

My CPU sits on the floor. How do I remove the dust?

Clair Dickson said:

I leave my computer on. It's like leaving a 60 watt light bulb running. I used to have Uninterrupted Power Supply (aka battery backup) so even power failure couldn't disrupt my computering.

I usually turn the machine off if I'm going to be gone or unlikely to use it. But I'm on my computer almost all the time-- if I'm not at school teaching, I'm on the computer.

I'm totally not worried about potentially burning out hardware. It's just as likely, in my experience, with a machine that is turned off. In fact, it was Hubby's machine that blew a motherboard and later a power supply even those his machine is turned off most of the time. I like the convenience of having the machine on-- esp for emails since I work from home for 2 of my jobs.

If your computer is well-ventilated, then it's really up to you. Computers are designed to be turned on and off (and leaving it on too long can cause some screwiness since there are some processes that require reboot to clean up or work better.) But they can also run constantly-- as with some small businesses that will use an otherwise regular desktop machine as a server, and thus on all the time. (My folks used this sort of server when they first set up their computer store, once upon a time ago.)

And don't forget, running constantly or not, if your "desktop" computer sits on the floor, it will breed a dust zoo inside. Be kind to your computer and remove the herd from time to time. =)

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Lost World said:

Just purchased a new desktop computer, and I'm looking for a definitive answer to that age-old question: Leave the computer running constantly, or shut it down when not in use? Sometimes I won't use my computer for a day or two, so the question is relevant in my case. I've heard that shutting down and restarting computers on a regular basis decreases their service life, but perhaps this is an old wives tale. And so I ask the experts...

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Don't know about the old wives tales but our computers are one most of the day but switched off when we go out and at night. They've survived well; we turn off all 'non-essential' electrics at night because of safety risk and, simply, to reduce electricity consumption. That said, i'm not an expert, i'm just going on my experiences and within our family, all computers have been treated the way i mentioned above.

Matera the Mad said:

I've never lost a hard drive or a motherboard -- and I shut down.

I have lost a monitor, horribly. Nothing like it for engendering paranoia. Since then, I'd rather not have anything "live" when I'm not around to push buttons, pull plugs, or grab a fire extinguisher.

If you don't, it goes to sleep (unless you are very into wasting electricity) and pretty much shuts down and cools off anyway.

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I never, ever let my computer go to sleep, or go into standby, depending on the system. If you do this, you may as well shut the computer down. Both affect components the same way.

I don't mind wasting electricity. I've found our bill is only a couple of dollar higher each month with the computers running full time.

I've lost a monitor, too, but it happened when I turned the blasted thing on after it had been shut down for the night.

I don't run my Dell laptop 24/7 because of overheating problems. I have an external cooling fan, which I highly recommend - the best brand I've found so far is Targus.

I leave my desktop computers turned on 24/7, and I burn through one computer every 18-24 months. However, I have two cats who think the top of my computer case is a nice warm place to sleep (You try telling a cat to move), and I'm convinced this has something to do with the short life of my computers.

Also, the mere act of switching a computer on and off creates wear and tear on the components. Going from cold (shut off) to warm (turned on) also adds extra stress on the computer, so there is a rational argument for leaving the machine turned on 24/7.

I turn my computers off when I'm not using them and I've never had a desktop computer die. I had my last iMac for 9 years before giving it away because it was hopelessly obsolete. I've been told there are several processes in OSX which only occur when the computer boots, so it's important to turn it on and off regularly. Not sure if this is true or not.

Doomie said:

My CPU sits on the floor. How do I remove the dust?

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With the computer off, open the case-- which is different for different cases. I prefer the ones with a couple screw on the back that free up the side/ top panels for sliding back and off. My dell computer opens like a damn Transformer toy...

Once the case is open there are several methods for removing dust. Compressed air or some other low velocity blower/ vacuum is a good method. Go for fans and other collections of dust herds.

BE CAREFUL! There are lots of little transistors and other things that if you bump them or knock them off, you're done. Gently move wires and get as much dust out of the case as possible.

Also remove the dust from any fans-- there will be at least one on the back of the case for the Power Supply. There may be a second fan on the rear of the case and possibly one inside.

Then, close it back up. I try to clean out my computer every couple of years. Or if I notice dust gathering along the baseboard behind the computer/ under the desk, then it's surely inside and it's probably time to clean the box again.

If you use compressed air, make sure you follow directions on the can.

Best of luck. Computers like to be clean.

Mine stays on, 24/7, unless I'm leaving town for a few days. I would not tell anyone to leave their computer running all the time if there was not a working UPS on the system. Power outages and fluctuations(brownouts) will damage hardware. I do reboot for grins and giggles, occasionally, especially after MS updates and software uninstalls.

Lost World said:

This is true. I had the energy saving hardware removed from my last machine because it actually makes the computer run a little slower. The difference between having the energy saving hardware and not having it is roughly $.25 per month. Word fired up instantaneously after that!

I think I'm going to go with leaving the computer on most of the time, only shutting it down during extended idle periods and to install automatic updates. My last two computers were turned on and off a lot and both lasted just a little over two years. Both of them were Dells too, so maybe that had something to do with it, but I really don't know and thus won't slam that brand. Nevertheless, I bought an HP/Compaq this time.

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Our family have had a lot of Dell computers; the two desktops are the oldest in the family, twelve years old and six years old. The oldest one was only retired last year because the need for new software was unavoidable. When the two Dell laptops died, cause of death was nothing to do with being turned off frequently, rather that they both met the floor with rather more speed than one might recommend. HPs are lovely though, our next computer will most likely be HP.