Should I leave computer on or turn it off

Discussion in 'PC hardware help' started by berserk, Jul 31, 2004.

  1. berserk

    berserk Member

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    Hey all,

    I want to know if it is harmful to my pc if I turn it on and off a couple times a day. Is it better to leave my pc on if I don't intend to use it for a couple of hours (1-3 hours), or is it better to turn it off and turn it back on again.

    I know this sounds like a trivial question, but I don't know if it is harmful to repeatedly turn on/off your system.

    What do you guz think about this?
     
  2. Praetor

    Praetor Moderator Staff Member

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    It used to be a big deal with harddrive parking but its not an issue any more :)
     
  3. Nephilim

    Nephilim Moderator Staff Member

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    I leave mine on damn near 24/7. The only time I turn it off is if I'm going to be leaving for most the day which ends up being almost never because I'm a recluse :)
     
  4. berserk

    berserk Member

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    Guess I leave the computer on for those few hours then lol
     
  5. Ronrice

    Ronrice Member

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    it doesnt really matter.
     
  6. 2005

    2005 Regular member

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    Its actually better for the pc to stay on all the time... if you do memory and processor intense work then its good to defrag it every week, but the most strainfull time on the processor and hard drives are during start up.
     
  7. indienemo

    indienemo Guest

    Doesnt matter in the slightest, i leave my computer on nearly all the time, however if your really worried about overheating or the like you could always inviest in a new fan ;)
     
  8. Xian

    Xian Regular member

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    13 years ago I worked for a large company and we was having many hard Seagate hard drives fail - several a week. They were dying when powering on the computer and spinning up to speed. We started leaving the computers on all the time and just had a couple failures a month after that.

    That was years ago, these days the bearings and internal workings of hard drives have improved so they withstand a lot more stress. I leave my computer on if I will be using it again in a few hours. If I am not going to use it for the next 8-12 hrs then I turn it off.
     
  9. berserk

    berserk Member

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    The only time I turn off the computer now is when I go to bed.
    Thx for the info.
     
  10. mcalister

    mcalister Regular member

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    I never turn my puter off. I always heard that temperature change wears on your internal parts faster. A constant temperature is the way do go
    less stressful. I have a battery backup system that automatically shuts my computer down when the electricity goes out so it doesn't matter if im at home or not. strone
     
  11. RedAnt

    RedAnt Regular member

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    Call me paranoid but if I’m not on the machine it's off.
     
  12. Nephilim

    Nephilim Moderator Staff Member

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    You're paranoid ;)
     
  13. grimey57

    grimey57 Guest


    Calister is right. Every time you turn on your pc it wears your parts. I think it's the cold parts being heated very fast, like someone said(principle of electronics, i think). If you leave your computer on for long periods of time, you don't have to worry about it wearing out faster.

    I'd highly recommend you leave it on if it doesn't bother you. That's actually the main reason why companies keep their computers on for YEARS(aside from servers etc).

     
  14. dlc2000

    dlc2000 Regular member

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    i leave mine on most of the time , reason being the expanding and contracting of the mother board tends to weaken it , its the constant flexing of the board from heating up and cooling down that im trying to avoid , there are pro and cons to this also , one is my machine collects more dust and needs more cleanings with the more run time , another is the power bill , it doesnt cost alot but it does make the bill a little more than normal , i do a restart once a day just reset the machine ,and defrag a little more often with the more run time , seems to work alright for me
     

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