really, really dumb question

please dont laugh....but am i supposed to switch my puter off when ive finished. i just log in and out and leave it running. someone told me that the puter doesnt like being switched on and off.

 

I am afraid that has been and will be a debate for all ages. There are pros and cons of both.

 

oh, so not such a dumb question then. so what are the pros and cons?

 

Call me paranoid, but I can't see the point of leaving a home computer on if you ain't using it. I reckon you are just asking for trouble that you can avoid IMHO that is. Especially if you have wet season or dry season storms, lightning, cyclones, etc as we have in FNQ (and Hawaii?) Bazza

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Damn time limit. I tried to add a PS:

PS: I have been turning my PC's off after use for over 20 years, going back to Tandy Model 1 days. My greatest troubles have been as a result of operator stupidity, in my case. Bazza

 

OOPS

I laughed



I leave my computers (4) on all the time because I run Seti. If I wasn't running any programs during my idle time I'd probably just turn them off, mainly to avoid them being cut off by a storm.

 

Yep. I leave mine on all the time, too. I do distributive computation with Folding At Home, maybe I can help them find a cure for cancer. My computer is not only always on, but it is always crunching.

 

i have a surg protecter. not only do we get storms (not often with lightening though) but our electricity cuts in and out for no apparent reason. the surg thingy i have is...cant make sense of the writing on it!!! lol, but its new and bought specifically for the puter. hopefully that will suffice. if there is no real reason to switch it off i think ill leave it on unless im away for more than say 18hrs. does that sound like a reasonable comprimise? aloha

 

I've got the ?????? the battery back up thing-a-majig that has a built in surge protector and it's plugged into a 40 billion jule (SP) surge protector so I'm not to worried about the lighting. The battery backup has my two main computers and monitor plugged into it but the other two go out with the power. Guess I need to buy another battery backup.

Robster, do you have a link for the cancer thing? That sounds like a noble cause.

 

I leave my computer on 24/7 but I use an Uninterruptible power supply or UPS its that battery back up thing-a-majig that mgrist is talking about.
This is the one I use if you want to see what its all about.
http://www.cyberpowersystems.com/1100avr.htm

 

THATS IT!!!!! A ups












that big brown truck takes up alot of room but its worth it

 

I'm just chiming in here... I don't disagree with anyone who turns there computer off, it depends on your preferences. One benefit I reap from leaving mine on is scheduled mal-ware scans, program updating (I have a DSL connection and am online 24/7) and disk defragmentation. I have had no problems with leaving a PC on for 4 years, although I reboot frequently and always blow out the dust when I open the case to tinker with it...

Peace,
Gina

 

If you have frequent power failures, I'd highly recommend getting a UPS. That will not only help prevent you from losing data when you're using it, and from causing file system corruption when you're not.

Additionally, you should be aware that a surge protector serves as very limited protection. They generally operate with devices called metal oxide varistors (MOVs). MOVs operate like a pressure valve. If the voltage goes too high, the MOVs bring it back down to normal levels. They are more correctly called surge suppressors, since they don't actually protect against the surge as they do suppress the effects of it. A very powerful surge would still damage your equipment.

In order to keep the cost of surge protectors reasonable, the MOVs used have limited lifespans. In most areas, the typical protector will provide protection for about 5 years. After that, no protection exists. However, the protector will still provide power to all the devices connected to it, and most of them give you no clue that protection no longer exists.

Note also that simply shutting down your PC won't extend the lifespand of the MOVs. The power strip is still sending power to the computer, so the MOVs are still protecting the power levels. You'd have to turn off the surge suppressor itself.

That's generally what I do. My PC stays on whenever it's going to be doing something -- downloading, running scans, etc -- but I always turn it off if I'm not going to use it for quite some time. I notmally leave it on because I'm going to be back in an hour or so and I don't want to bother shutting down and booting. My record uptime is around 75 days, but I stopped keeping track a long time ago and that doesn't count me resetting the machine.



In addition to the possiblilitiy of damaged components due to heat expansion, there is also the phenomenon known as "chip creep" where the components can actually work themselves out of their sockets. This is much less of an issue today where most chips are soldered on. Mainly now only BIOS chips are susceptible. Back in the days of the 8086, 286, and 386, you had to worry about the CPU, math co-processor, cache RAM, BIOS, and sometimes even chipset chips. That was before my time, but I've worked on a few machines that old.

Simple solution is to simply push the chips back into place when you open the case up. I've never had a chip stop working, but I have noticed a click as they occasionally slide back into place.

 

If your electricity has those kinds of noticeable surges / sags, you would do well with a UPS. I use the "top of the line" - the genuine APC brand UPS. Many geeks tell me they would have no other kind. Mine is rated at 350 VA. Enough for me, probably for you, too.

Not only can it shut your system down in the event of a power outage, but it makes sure that you get nice voltages coming in to your power supply. Protection not only against spikes (surges) but also against sags, etc...



I wouldn't run any kind of valuable computer without one.
(Though I have an old IBM ThinkPad 385ED that I run "raw" for short period of time when I sit with Grandma watching TV and TRY to learn the C language with it..)

 

Here is the link to the project's home page:

http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/folding/
And, you may want to join the MajorGeeks team if you give it a go (team number 12072)
http://vspx27.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/main.py?qtype=teampage&teamnum=12072
Now, you will see on the list of members there that some have quit, I don't know why. There may be some trouble with the application run on Windows, I don't know. I run it on the Linux, and it does fine.
Would love to have you aboard.

 

i leave all my stuff on because it heats my rooms. and drowns out noise

My bedroom where the computers are is always nice and warm, well this time of year it's just warm.

 

ok, checked out the ups thingy online, and the cheepest one was $40 so its gonna hafta wait a while. can anyone tell me how much electric a puter uses. hubby says it cost about $8 per week if its on all the time. thanz for all the advise.

 

what do you mean 'open the case and tinker with it'. lol. tinker with what? where are the chips and how do i know if theyve 'creeped', and i didnt know you were supposed to reboot it every so often (how often) and is that the same as shutting it down?

 

laurieB,
By opening the case and tinkering with it I just meant I have been installing lots of hardware (memory, PCI cards, extra USB ports) recently. Since I am by far NOT as experienced as most of the people posting here I will leave it to someone else to describe the "chips" and "how they've creeped." I think I may know but I could be wrong.

Thanks. Although that tidbit seems to be common sense, I never considered it! We have had a rash of powerful thunderstorms lately and I have been leaving my computer on, thinking that the surge protector would ensure the computer's safety. I learn something every time I come to MG.

Peace,
Gina

 

Ok, here's my take on the subject, just before I crash out for the day.

My network has a range of different setups.

First, there is the office. Most of the time the PC is switched off, and when its left on it'll put itself into hibernation after an hour or so of being idle. The machine is mostly used for word processing, surfing the web and some other simple (ish) internet apps, as well as some minor image editing. Its quite an old machine, doesn't use up much power and doesn't run at all hot.

Second, there is my PC in my room. I have it on most of the time, usually because I'm listening to music (or internet radio) or doing somthing. When I go out I don't see any reason to turn it off... as it goes into standby if its not being used for more than an hour. It runs fairly warm, but thats just the nature of the machine.

Third, there is the web server. Sitting in the office, it sits on the network permenantly, serving web pages when nececary. It requires infrequent restarts (once a month or so... depending on what ive been doing to it) to free up memory, and increace performance. Everything is automated, from virus checking to defrag to optimising the databases it hosts. It doesn't have anything plugged into it other than power and an ethernet cable. The only hardware it has is the motherboard, and the hard drive, two sticks of ram and a 350W PSU (because it happened to be lying around).

I somtimes my rig can be on for more than days at a time, and depending on what I've been doing to with it, it needs a restart to stop it being sluggish. The more memory intensive apps (like games, Photoshop... etc.) usually make me restart faster. The server on the other hand, I do nothing on that which requires memory, other than run the websites, which doesn't take that much memory up on my scale, and so it doesn't have to be restarted often. However, I do turn it off at night most of the time so I can sleep!

Very soon I'm going to get a UPS for the server to prevent corruption and data loss in the case of a blackout, or hardware problems in case of a surge.

Being the paranoid geek that I am I've got a "lightning storm action plan". This came about after my old macs modem got fried after a storm one day (fusing two terminals together, causing all the phones in the house to start rining at once... in the middle of the night!!). It basically goes along the lines of :
Unplug all computers.
Shutdown the router, and unplug it from the phone line + the wall.
Unplug the DSL filters, and run one normal phone through the socket directly.

Basically, that means none of the computer equiptment is attached to the mains or the phone line. This means that I have to watch the weather report and outside so I can make sure that I have the network offline for the minimum ammount of time.

Anyway, In my view its all about the application... and whats the most convinient.

 

Thanks for the advice goldfish. What would you do if a rash of small thunderstorms broke out for 2 weeks or more, as is happening in my part of the world? The thunderstorms last 1 or 2 hours per day on average and I have no clue as to when they will come. Still, I need to be on line. I have DSL as you do.

Thanks in advance,
Gina

 

laurieB. Make sure whatever you get, that BOTH the power line AND the phone line are protected. Here in Cairns there are some houses built of some kind of rock that attracts lightning. Blew the phones right off the wall, a few years ago. I don't think they were connected to a PC by a modem, lucky for them. Bazza

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we dont actually get a lot of lightning in this bit. those storms have already dispersed their static over the sea. the weather is wierd and unpridictable never the less. all the houses are made of wood panalling. so fire is always a risk. this is an old plantation house, the phone lines were installed in the days of real 'dial up'. lol. the electrics are also something to marvel at. i will get protection for puter asap. thanx for all the advice.