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Is it better to leave my computer on all day or ...

G

gat893

Junior Member
I was just wondering if it was better to leave my computer on all day and night 24/7 or turn it on and off whenever I need to use it. I use my computer alot throughout the day and my friend said that because I turn it on and off so much, it will wear down my hard drive? Anybody have another opinion? Thanks!
 
i like leaving mines on all the time. by the time there will be any significant damage to the HD due to leaving it on, you will have already gone through many new systems. i still have old 700mb hds that are still up and kicking that were always on. if you're running win98 you may want to restart a few hundred times throught the day though. 😀

some people like to turn it on once in the morning and turn it off only at night before bed. different strokes for different folks. do as you please!
 
I assure you that you will hear arguments both for and against leaving it running 24/7.

I have had computers that I would leave on 24/7, and I have had some that I would shut down every night. There's no harm in leaving them constantly running (no harm to the hardware) as long as your system is well maintained. I would make sure you have adequate case ventilation, hot components will most likely have a shorter lifespan.

The real question is what is the advantage to YOU to leave it running 24/7? And is it stable enough to do so? (I found that my Win9x systems would need frequent reboots).
 
Electronics handle constant current flow much better than on and off current. My understanding is that the on/off flow of electricity it what wears out electronic components. Look at most businesses, mine included. We have had most of our computer constantly on for two years and only one bad hard drive and a couple of video cards. Of course, some of our crappy KDS monitors have died, but that is because they are KDS.
 
I have left my computers on 24/7 since the mid/early 90s. I have an old Packard Bell P150 still going strong and being used by my niece (she's the third hand me down that system has seen, too). I have two old Dells still going strong as well, and a couple older HDDs that I pulled from my old computers and put into machines built from old parts for friends and relatives. I had a couple 386s and a couple 486s that I donated to charity a long time ago. I've built my own since I bought my last Dell 450MHz PII in 98.

I have NEVER had a HDD fail on me, and as far as I know, all my old HDDs still are working.

So, to sum it up, I'm a firm believer in leaving them on.
 
I am another that leaves their system on 24/7, I also run Seti so I want those WUs =). The only thing I turn off is my Monitor or if I leave for more that a few days I will turn my system off and actually unplug it. If you're wondering why I do that, it is because I have seen what a good thunderstorm can do to electronics and I like my computer.

Yonux
 
I leave my computer on 24/7 crunching for Anandtech's SETI team. I didn't used to do it with Windows 98 though. Once I upgraded to 2000 I noticed my system stability improve to perfect. If you can use standby and have Windows 2000, I don't see any reason to turn it off really. Standby is very close to actually turning off your system. I believe the memory is the only piece of hardware still receiving power.
 
Do the 24/7 people let the hdd spin down when not in use?

And when you unplug the computer don't forget about the modem, cable, dsl connection. Lightning likes phone lines even more than electrical.
 


<< Do the 24/7 people let the hdd spin down when not in use?

And when you unplug the computer don't forget about the modem, cable, dsl connection. Lightning likes phone lines even more than electrical. >>

A UPS is your friend 😉

There are also some devices which protect the system(s) against powersurges on the UTP cable.
 
I tend to turn my computer on in the morning and off at night. I used to have a couple computers running 24/7 but don't really see the point of doing that anymore. Just gives them twice as much time to suck up dust🙂

I would have to say the wear and tear from power ups is negligible. Much
like the wear and tear from overclocking. It might take some time off the lifespan but more than likely your hardware will be obsolete well before even the shortened lifespan is up. The power supply and monitor probably get hit the hardest at power up.



 
I leave them all running...look at how light bulbs blow (typically by turning them on). I'm sure it's not a proper analogy but it's just one I've always kept in my mind.
 
Actually conjur I think that's the best model you can give for this... I believe it's a physics concept, b ut I'm not sure. One of my buddies had explained to me that the reason lightbulbs are more likely to blow when first turned on is because they undergo the most change within their system at that point, going from no power to full power. It seemed to make sense to me.

Although, if this were the case I'd expect that it wouldn;t be your hdd that would go, but instead fans, possibly memory, and maybe even motherboard bridges that would go.
 
Yes, my HDDs are always spinning.

I'd like to reiterate that I've NEVER had a HDD failure.

The user, on the other hand... 😉
 


<< Actually conjur I think that's the best model you can give for this... I believe it's a physics concept, b ut I'm not sure. One of my buddies had explained to me that the reason lightbulbs are more likely to blow when first turned on is because they undergo the most change within their system at that point, going from no power to full power. It seemed to make sense to me.

Although, if this were the case I'd expect that it wouldn;t be your hdd that would go, but instead fans, possibly memory, and maybe even motherboard bridges that would go. >>



Light bulbs blow most often at power up because we demand instant light. To get a standard light bulb to come on instantly requires a power surge. There are actually "long life" light bulbs out there that nip this surge. Or at least, this is what I've been told 🙂

BTW, mechanical parts almost always die faster than chips.

Ask people what has failed them more in the long term, and I'll bet fans and drives are at the top.
 


<< So you say it's better to keep the computer from powering down your harddisks? >>



That's my opinion, yes.
 


<< Light bulbs blow most often at power up because we demand instant light. To get a standard light bulb to come on instantly requires a power surge. There are actually "long life" light bulbs out there that nip this surge. Or at least, this is what I've been told 🙂 >>



This is true...I have some of the Phillips long-life bulbs as porch lights. They come on very dim at first and work their way up (more slowly when it's cold outside). But, I figure computers (like motherboards, RAM, etc.) want that power NOW! 🙂
 
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