Leaving Your Computer On? - is this good for it?

[alperuzi 0]

Computers are designed to be on 24/7, there is no problem in leaving them on unless your fans or PSU die. Therefore it is recommended that you clean your fans and the dust buildup regularly, like once every 3-4 months.

[lostprophetX 0]

I always leave mine on, I just log off before I go to sleep. My bro likes to stay up and play Halo 2 or NCAA on Xbox Live and it runs thru my computer. But, I see no reason to shut it off. But, I do shut if off during a storm, can't be too careful. I'd hate to have it die on me, cost me $1400...

[Trystim 0]

actually an occasional reboot is all your computer needs in essence...it has been shown on electric meters that turning it on actually creates a surge of power equal to leaving the machine on for extended periods of time. I leave my machine on 24/7 and reboot once every 2 days, i never have speed problems, or program "lag" so to speak. I do and always will however even though i have UPS back up during thunder storms with lightning turn my machine off and unplug it from the wall. it is my lifestyle and my connection to the work world. I can't afford the surge to blow my machine even if the surge protectors come with a "insurance policy" so to say.Just my 2 cents...i think it is more a matter of preference then a matter of what is good / bad good and/or bad things come from doing either or.

[Johnny 1]

I leave mine on pretty much all the time, with a reboot every two days or so. I sometimes get bad lag, if I leave it on -too- long.I don't have any backups, just because I can easily replace anything present on this computer. EVERYTHING I have on here is either free or from torrents, or I made it. The stuff I've made myself (my graphics work and stuff) I don't care too much about, because I usually never need to go back to old files for anything. Just keep moving ahead, right?

[ywlke 0]

In general, leaving anything on for a long time is bad for it. I noticed that my machines last longer vs. the school machines (even the brand new ones), and I think that has to do with the fact that I don't leave my machines on 24/7. Plus, most computers aren't servers, which are designed to be on most of the time.If you like leaving your computer on all the time, you'll want to restart it at least once a week to make a clean dump of the memory. You should see a noticeable performance increase.

[Darker333 0]

I like to leave on my PC because I either have something going on OR, I am just to lazy

[spawn_syxx9 1]

I really don't see a reason for you people to leave it on 24/7. People can email you if they want you to read a message. Why does the PC have to be on?

[dundun2007 0]

No, i dont think leaving your computer on for 24/7 is a good idea at all. It goes in to hibernate after some time but still not as good as shutting it off. What i do is set my computer to run a virus checker, spyware remover, and cleanup at like 1 a.m. and then i have it shut off once its done. the timer settings works really good for those types of things.

[cragllo 0]

It is quite a bad to keep your computer on 24/7. My schools server USED to be on 24/7, but one day, when they re-booted it, it would not turn back on, the PSU had melted, so they had to install a new one, they have a special cooling system for the PSU now.

Edited April 28, 2005 by cragllo (see edit history)

[Wyllt 0]

There is nothing wrong at all with leaving your computers on 24/7, in fact if you turn your computer on and off more than twice a day you are significantly better leaving it on 24/7, both in lifespan of your PC and in electricity costs. When you turn on your computer a surge of electricity hits the circuits and heats them up very fast, if you want to see what this type of situation does take a glass put it in the freezer over night in the morning boil some watter and pour it into the frozen glass (WARNING: The glass will crack at minimum, it may even shatter so make sure you are not holding the glass, and it is somewhere that if it shatters the shards are not going to cause damage). Granted Copper, gold, silicone, etc. is considerably more resiliant, and not nearly as cold as all that, but it is a demonstration of the stress caused by abrupt temperature changes. You have to realize that the wiring on your mother board is extremely fine and such changes could cause minor fractures which could impede electrical flow through the wires.

In general, leaving anything on for a long time is bad for it. I noticed that my machines last longer vs. the school machines (even the brand new ones), and I think that has to do with the fact that I don't leave my machines on 24/7. Plus, most computers aren't servers, which are designed to be on most of the time.If you like leaving your computer on all the time, you'll want to restart it at least once a week to make a clean dump of the memory. You should see a noticeable performance increase.

The reason your computer lasts longer than your school systems has nothing to do with leaving it on. You must realize that school computers are used WAY more than your average home PC, plus there are more people using them per day, and little to no way to control what is done to them. Trust me I work as a PC tech in a school and the crap I pull out of computers would surprise you. I have pulled an entire chip bag out of a floppy drive once, that chip bag fried the floppy drive, it had to be replaced. Another time I opened a PC up to find that a motherboard had litterally been snapped in half.

You are right about the weekly reboot though, that is recommended, and it will improve your performace IF you are running a Microsoft Operating System, most others (ie Linux) do not even need this, Microsoft has hundreds of small memory leaks, add that to crappy TSR (terminally stay resident) programs that also have leaks and it slows down over time.

It is quite a bad to keep your computer on 24/7. My schools server USED to be on 14/7, but one day, when they re-booted it, it would not turn back on, the PSU had melted, so they had to install a new one, they have a special cooling system for the PSU now.

Somehow I don't think you have the WHOLE story on that one. I will have to presume you mean CPU and not PSU because PSU means Power Supply Unit, and chances of that melting from normal use (and 14/7 is considerably less than normal use for a server) is non existant, the CPU generally can't physically melt, but it can be fryed over time, and specialized cooling systems can be bought for CPU's but I haven't heard of one for a PSU. If the CPU (or even the PSU) had died while it was running it still would have crapped out (and if it was the PSU it would have powered down hard) regardless of the reboot, but powering it up could have finally pushed it over the edge, so they would have been better off to leave it running 24/7 and they might have gotten more life out of the server.

Servers are designed to run 24/7/365 and generally do not need to be powered down EVER. MS based servers (ie. NT, 2000 Server, 2003 Server) do need the ocasional reboot, but even that is not all that often. Just imagine if all servers only ran 14/7, you could only get to certain websites at certain times, not a good senario.

[wariorpk 0]

I would not say that leaving your computer on is bad by any means. It actually is better for one reason. If you leave your computer on all of the components generally stay at a constant temerature. So I would say its fine to leave your computer on. You might spike up your electric bill though but I'm not really sure about that. I hope I helped.

[MidnightDevil 0]

If there's a good internal maintenance, inferior fan putting air inside, superior fan excluding the air, power fan, cpu fan, and some general fan for the board, why not? computers are ready to be on. how do u think servers keep their uptime? lol

[=Savage= 0]

I quite often leave my pc on. I know someone that didnt turn his computer off for like a year. The only real implication of this is that your electrcity bill be VERY high but oh well

[alperuzi 0]

I even used to leave my laptops running, they make great servers, I tell you there is nothing wrong with leavin them on.It is actually much healthier if you leave them on. When you switch on a computer you instantly surge all circuits with electricity, and failures usually happen at those critical moments of powering on or off. Its just like most lightbulbs fail when you are switching them on.Laptops are actually much better in this effect since they always have a battery to regulate the voltage. But still, there is nothing wrong with leaving desktops on.

[eXtreme 0]

there's not a really problem leaving the PC on.. i usually leave mine +8 hours on a day and it never gave me a problem..just make sure you have good cooling and you're ready to go.