[gui-talk] leaving computer turned on

[Steve Jacobson]

When this debate first started, probably twenty-five years ago, most of us used computers differently.  We probably used computers several times a day if we 
were active users, but e-mail and internet access all involved dial-up so we didn't stay connected all the time and perhaps checked mail once a day.  The 
debate originally was should we leave our computers on all day or should we shut them down each time we used them.  In that context, I think there was 
truly some wear saved by us leaving them on all day.  I am not convinced any more that wear is really the reason to make your choice.  Leaving a computer 
on overnight so that it runs eight hours without use rather than restarting it seems unlikely to save greatly on wear, especially considering that it will likely be 
busy some of that time with operating system tasks.  Also, remember that even if you leave it on, if it goes into standby or hibernate mode, some of the same 
issues you have with a drive starting up will still be there when it wakes up.  I am also not sure that I think the argument of avoiding bootup problems is valid.  
If you have a bootup problem, you either have a drive problem, a registry problem, or possible a corrupt file problem that you are probably better off knowing 
about rather than not.

In general, I tend to turn my computers off at night for some of the reasons already given.  Some programs get messier the longer they run, and it gives 
Windows Update a chance to do its thing as well.  In the case of my work computer, though, I leave work at 5:00 and return a little before 8:00 the next 
day, so turning it off means it rests more than it is on.  I usually turn my computer at home off around 10:30 in the evening and I usually do not use it until the 
next night, so the same thing holds there.  Nowadays, it takes some time to have a computer start up.  Besides the actually bootup process, there are things 
that run when the computer has just started that can make it work slower.  Windows Update runs, your virus checker probably does some scans, it make 
check for virus updates, if you use DropBox or similar software it will synchronize, which means that after you boot up your computer doesn't settle down for 
a few minutes.  Therefore, if you are the sort of person who uses the same computer often and over extended periods, having it on and ready to go may 
make good sense, but more for the convenience rather than for saving wear.  Also, if you use it all day and evening, you can have it perform some tasks 
while you are sleeping such as virus scans and software updates.  However, I still think it is a good idea to get a fresh start by restarting a computer 
occasionally.  Some software updates require a restart for one thing.  In some cases, Windows will now restart your computer automatically after giving you 
a warning, so it could restart some without your intervention.  How often you restart it really depends upon what you notice,  If you routinely use your 
computer for three days without noticing any problem, then there is probably no need to restart once a day, but I don't think once a day is a bad idea.  It 
depends a lot on your pattern of use, what you are running how old your machine is, and probably other variables I haven't thought of.

Good luck.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

On Thu, 12 May 2011 21:44:02 -0700, Humberto wrote:

>Hello folks,

>To all the geeks out there who really know the ins and outs of 
>the PC, is it OK if I leave my PC turned on all day and night? 
>Will my computer suffer or wear out by leaving it on all day? 
>Will it get slow? I read on my city's networking web site that if 
>I leave my computer on all the time, I would avoid startup and 
>bootloading errors when shutting off and turning on. Is this 
>true?
>thoughts welcome everyone.

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