Should You Turn Off Your Computer Every Night?

[holdum333]

Hi there! There are a lot of different opinions about this subject. I have a Toshiba laptop. It's on 7/24. I restart some times but seldom do I shut my PC off.

I'm starting on the 5th year and for a lap top; that's pretty good. My laptop stays on my desk and I seldom take it any where. I'm about ready for a new PC after 5 years.

I don't plan on changing my habits and it will be interesting to see how much longer my old Toshiba will last. I keep it well maintained and dust free.

Do you have any thought about this? Would like to hear from you! Here's a good read about the pros and cons!

 

http://blog.dyminsystems.com/blog/should-you-turn-off-your-computer-every-night

 

Edited July 15, 2016 by holdum333

[holdum333]

Here's a good video "How to clean your laptop"

https://youtu.be/u4sumDY5mhI

 

[holdum333]

Hi there! Here's what Leo has to say!

http://ask-leo.com/should_i_turn_my_computer_off_at_night.html

Edited July 15, 2016 by holdum333

[Steve K.]

On 7/15/2016 at 2:30 PM, holdum333 said:

Here's what Leo has to say!

Leo is fantastic! Glad to see you read his content!

Personally, I agree with Leo. On my Laptops, when I'm done using them, I close the lid and let them goto sleep. For my desktop however in my office (where I do most of my heavy-duty work), I never put the computer to sleep and let it run 24x7. I do this for several reasons.

1. Sometimes when I'm at work, I need to connect to my home box. I use Teamviewer to do this and it works great.
2. I upload A LOT of photos and videos to my computer. A lot of times when I do this, it can take a few days for all the content to backup to Crashplan. So -- by leaving the computer turned on, everything gets backed up fully no issues.
3. Even while in the house, I at times need to connect to my Windows box from my MB Air. Because of this, I need to the box turned on or I'll need to stand up, walk into my office and turn on my PC. Yeah, I know, lazy but.... oh well.
4. I live in Seattle, power is cheap........ 

Just my 2 cents in adding to the discussion @holdum333. Great question.

[holdum333]

Thanks @Steve Great Reply!

[Rich-M]

I shut down my laptop when I am done with it as I see no reason to leave it on, then again I don't use it much. Laptops suffer from heat issues caused by tight cramped quarters so I always advise my clients to shut them down when done or for certain at least at night if that is all they use. Desktops the same way shutdown when I leave the house or at night before I go to bed. Nothing worse than a punch drunk computer whose memory hasn't reset in a week trying to solve an issue on memory from a week ago.

Many years ago I seldom had a hard drive last more than 2 years. Since I started my current policy I have drives running that are 8-10 years old and have never lost one.

This is from a printout I leave with all my clients:

Here are some points I would like to make on this topic.
1. Even in sleep mode power must be applied to the system in order for memory to remain active. Even though data is written from memory to the HDD before going into sleep mode, power must still be applied to memory when asleep. Actually low voltage power is continuously applied to the motherboard even during sleep; only peripheral devices are shut down or put into a low power state. This means the power supply must also remain alive.

2. Current (no matter how low a voltage) does wear down wires, but even more so microcircuits.

3. Heat is generated so long as current is being supplied and heat dries out protective coatings and sheathing. Both heat and current will weaken solder points over time.

4. Electricity creates electrostatic environment, especially when the environment is already very dry such as winter months. This attracts dust which as we all know restricts airflow causing over heating both inside the case and around heatsinks, builds up in fans and causes them to fail.

5. Surge protectors are virtually useless (IMHO), but better than nothing at all. They will NOT stop a lightning strike, nor will they prevent a black or brown out.

6. Storms are unpredictable as are auto accidents, high winds, etc. All of which can cause a power failure or rolling black or brown outs. All of which can cause an immediate loss of power to a system. Leaving a system on 24/7 increases the likelihood of a system being effected by them.

7. A sleeping system still uses more power than a powered down system.

8. Monitors in a low power state and printers are just as susceptible to all these conditions.

Conclusion: Unless there is some very specific need for a system to remain on such as remote monitoring, or data syncing, shut them off.