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Shutting down the PC



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 23rd 03, 03:36 PM
HistoryFan
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Shutting down the PC

I own a Dell 2400. I'm somewhat leery of re-starting a tired old
thread, but I'd appreciate some feedback.

In all the years I've owned a computer, I always turned it on in the
morning, and turned it off at night. I didn't see any point in leaving the
computer on and wasting electricity. Yet in recent threads here, many have
speculated that leaving the PC on 24/7 actually saves wear and tear on the
computer. Is that correct?

I'm somewhat tempted to leave the PC on 24/7 because I recently
enabled the automatic updates for Norton and Windows. Example: Norton had a
scheduled update at 10:30pm Saturday, but I turned off the computer at 10pm.
When I turned on the machines this morning and checked, the next update
wasn't scheduled until 10:30pm this evening....so Norton is still waiting to
do the 10:30pm check. That is too long to check for updates. I know how to
reset the LiveUpdate schedule, but having to do so every day is too tedious.

Finally, if I do leave the PC on 24/7, should I make any changes to
the Power Options? Currently everything is set to NEVER. I want to make
sure the update programs can operate freely.



  #2  
Old November 23rd 03, 03:46 PM
Larry
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I leave mine on 7x24. Thge only power option I've set is to shut the
monitor off after 20 minutes of non-use. I don't even log out (WinXP Home).
The Norton updates get loaded and I get notified on any MS critical updates.

I have wondered about having the disk spin down after NN minutes of
in-activity. On a previosu Win98SE that was sporadic at best, sometimes the
disk would stay running for days. I don't if you would save any disk life
anyway I thought the disks run on air bearings and there is actually less
wear when they are running??

I do have an APC UPS with power moderation/control that seems to catch
glitches and brownouts. I think I once fried a previosu computer without a
UPS unit.

Just my ovbservations and thoughts over the years...


"HistoryFan" wrote in message
...
I own a Dell 2400. I'm somewhat leery of re-starting a tired old
thread, but I'd appreciate some feedback.

In all the years I've owned a computer, I always turned it on in

the
morning, and turned it off at night. I didn't see any point in leaving

the
computer on and wasting electricity. Yet in recent threads here, many

have
speculated that leaving the PC on 24/7 actually saves wear and tear on the
computer. Is that correct?

I'm somewhat tempted to leave the PC on 24/7 because I recently
enabled the automatic updates for Norton and Windows. Example: Norton had

a
scheduled update at 10:30pm Saturday, but I turned off the computer at

10pm.
When I turned on the machines this morning and checked, the next update
wasn't scheduled until 10:30pm this evening....so Norton is still waiting

to
do the 10:30pm check. That is too long to check for updates. I know how

to
reset the LiveUpdate schedule, but having to do so every day is too

tedious.

Finally, if I do leave the PC on 24/7, should I make any changes

to
the Power Options? Currently everything is set to NEVER. I want to make
sure the update programs can operate freely.





  #3  
Old November 23rd 03, 03:48 PM
Robert R Kircher, Jr.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

HistoryFan wrote:
I own a Dell 2400. I'm somewhat leery of re-starting a tired
old thread, but I'd appreciate some feedback.

In all the years I've owned a computer, I always turned it on
in the morning, and turned it off at night. I didn't see any point
in leaving the computer on and wasting electricity. Yet in recent
threads here, many have speculated that leaving the PC on 24/7
actually saves wear and tear on the computer. Is that correct?

I'm somewhat tempted to leave the PC on 24/7 because I recently
enabled the automatic updates for Norton and Windows. Example:
Norton had a scheduled update at 10:30pm Saturday, but I turned off
the computer at 10pm. When I turned on the machines this morning and
checked, the next update wasn't scheduled until 10:30pm this
evening....so Norton is still waiting to do the 10:30pm check. That
is too long to check for updates. I know how to reset the LiveUpdate
schedule, but having to do so every day is too tedious.

Finally, if I do leave the PC on 24/7, should I make any
changes to the Power Options? Currently everything is set to NEVER.
I want to make sure the update programs can operate freely.


Either way the computer will last you as long as you need, however, I belong
to the leave it on club. Although I've never read anything that confirms
the fatigue argument, it does make since that the heating and cooling of
components could weakening connections. I started this habit years ago
with old 286/386 ISA PCs where I found that after time the ISA cards would
work them selves loose. I found that if I left the PCs on the problem went
away.

With better cooling in today's PCs, I don't think this is much of an issue
anymore.


--

Rob




  #4  
Old November 23rd 03, 03:52 PM
Carol
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"HistoryFan" wrote in message
...
I own a Dell 2400. I'm somewhat leery of re-starting a tired old
thread, but I'd appreciate some feedback.

In all the years I've owned a computer, I always turned it on in

the
morning, and turned it off at night. I didn't see any point in leaving

the
computer on and wasting electricity. Yet in recent threads here, many

have
speculated that leaving the PC on 24/7 actually saves wear and tear on the
computer. Is that correct?

I'm somewhat tempted to leave the PC on 24/7 because I recently
enabled the automatic updates for Norton and Windows. Example: Norton had

a
scheduled update at 10:30pm Saturday, but I turned off the computer at

10pm.
When I turned on the machines this morning and checked, the next update
wasn't scheduled until 10:30pm this evening....so Norton is still waiting

to
do the 10:30pm check. That is too long to check for updates. I know how

to
reset the LiveUpdate schedule, but having to do so every day is too

tedious.

Finally, if I do leave the PC on 24/7, should I make any changes

to
the Power Options? Currently everything is set to NEVER. I want to make
sure the update programs can operate freely.



This is my humble opinion.
I agree that shutting a computer on and off is not good for it. However, I
don't agree that leaving it on all the time is a also a good idea. Heat is
generated by computers and laptops (which I own), get fairly warm. I don't
think the perpetual heat is good for it. I generally shut down a computer
when I'm not going to use it for a couple of hours or if I turn on another
one. I never leave it on all night.
I could be all wrong with what I do but my computers seem to last without
many problems and I will keep doing it this way. I have a Compaq laptop
that is 6 years old and still running and 3 Dells, one of which is 4 years
old.
I have all the power options to "never" as I don't run the computers on
batteries and feel that having the hard drive shutting off and on isn't good
for it.

Carol


  #5  
Old November 23rd 03, 04:04 PM
HillBillyBuddhist
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

"HistoryFan" wrote in message
...
| I own a Dell 2400. I'm somewhat leery of re-starting a tired old
| thread, but I'd appreciate some feedback.

I would be too :-)

|
| In all the years I've owned a computer, I always turned it on in
the
| morning, and turned it off at night. I didn't see any point in leaving
the
| computer on and wasting electricity. Yet in recent threads here, many
have
| speculated that leaving the PC on 24/7 actually saves wear and tear on the
| computer. Is that correct?

But seriously, I'll place one vote from the "leave it on" camp. My reasoning
being that the greatest stress to electronic components comes with the
initial surge of electricity when powered on and from expansion and
contraction of the components heating and cooling. I've seen used the
"lightbulb" analogy. (I didn't make it up I'm just repeating it) When does a
light bulb fail? We're all familiar with that flash and pop when the light
is first turned on. A surge of current a sudden expansion and failure.

It's also convenient for me to leave mine on as I frequently want to pull up
a file from a different computer elsewhere in the house and it would defeat
the purpose if I had to stop what I was doing to go to another computer and
turn it on.

As far as power management I generally set the monitor and HDDs to power off
after an hour. All my various updates seem to work fine.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. g

--
D

I'm not an MVP a VIP nor do I have ESP.
I was just trying to help.
Please use your own best judgment before implementing any suggestions or
advice herein.
No warranty is expressed or implied.
Your mileage may vary.
See store for details.

Remove shoes to E-mail.


  #6  
Old November 23rd 03, 04:08 PM
Joan
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Carol, I agree with you. My oldest Dell is a P 233mmx, purchased in
1996. I just received it back from my nephew when I gave him a newer
PC. This sweet old PC was on and off daily by him for years. Only
replacement ever on this PC was a CD Rom drive. I got it back because
it plays all my Dos Games perfectly. :-)

At work our PC is an el cheapo, no name PIII which is almost 4 years
old. It is turned off at the end of each day and nothing has been
replaced so far.

Joan

Carol wrote:
"HistoryFan" wrote in message
...

I own a Dell 2400. I'm somewhat leery of re-starting a tired old
thread, but I'd appreciate some feedback.

In all the years I've owned a computer, I always turned it on in


the

morning, and turned it off at night. I didn't see any point in leaving


the

computer on and wasting electricity. Yet in recent threads here, many


have

speculated that leaving the PC on 24/7 actually saves wear and tear on the
computer. Is that correct?

I'm somewhat tempted to leave the PC on 24/7 because I recently
enabled the automatic updates for Norton and Windows. Example: Norton had


a

scheduled update at 10:30pm Saturday, but I turned off the computer at


10pm.

When I turned on the machines this morning and checked, the next update
wasn't scheduled until 10:30pm this evening....so Norton is still waiting


to

do the 10:30pm check. That is too long to check for updates. I know how


to

reset the LiveUpdate schedule, but having to do so every day is too


tedious.

Finally, if I do leave the PC on 24/7, should I make any changes


to

the Power Options? Currently everything is set to NEVER. I want to make
sure the update programs can operate freely.




This is my humble opinion.
I agree that shutting a computer on and off is not good for it. However, I
don't agree that leaving it on all the time is a also a good idea. Heat is
generated by computers and laptops (which I own), get fairly warm. I don't
think the perpetual heat is good for it. I generally shut down a computer
when I'm not going to use it for a couple of hours or if I turn on another
one. I never leave it on all night.
I could be all wrong with what I do but my computers seem to last without
many problems and I will keep doing it this way. I have a Compaq laptop
that is 6 years old and still running and 3 Dells, one of which is 4 years
old.
I have all the power options to "never" as I don't run the computers on
batteries and feel that having the hard drive shutting off and on isn't good
for it.

Carol



  #7  
Old November 23rd 03, 04:20 PM
Joan
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Oh, our Company Server, Win NT I think, stays on all night because it
does its backup and maintenance during the night, but I swear it goes
down once a week. :-( not on purpose. :-) We have about 30 company
PC's connecting to that server for our Yardi Program. All individual
PCs are shut down each night.

Joan

Joan wrote:

Carol, I agree with you. My oldest Dell is a P 233mmx, purchased in
1996. I just received it back from my nephew when I gave him a newer
PC. This sweet old PC was on and off daily by him for years. Only
replacement ever on this PC was a CD Rom drive. I got it back because
it plays all my Dos Games perfectly. :-)

At work our PC is an el cheapo, no name PIII which is almost 4 years
old. It is turned off at the end of each day and nothing has been
replaced so far.

Joan

Carol wrote:

"HistoryFan" wrote in message
...

I own a Dell 2400. I'm somewhat leery of re-starting a tired old
thread, but I'd appreciate some feedback.

In all the years I've owned a computer, I always turned it on in



the

morning, and turned it off at night. I didn't see any point in leaving



the

computer on and wasting electricity. Yet in recent threads here, many



have

speculated that leaving the PC on 24/7 actually saves wear and tear
on the
computer. Is that correct?

I'm somewhat tempted to leave the PC on 24/7 because I recently
enabled the automatic updates for Norton and Windows. Example:
Norton had



a

scheduled update at 10:30pm Saturday, but I turned off the computer at



10pm.

When I turned on the machines this morning and checked, the next update
wasn't scheduled until 10:30pm this evening....so Norton is still
waiting



to

do the 10:30pm check. That is too long to check for updates. I know
how



to

reset the LiveUpdate schedule, but having to do so every day is too



tedious.

Finally, if I do leave the PC on 24/7, should I make any changes



to

the Power Options? Currently everything is set to NEVER. I want to
make
sure the update programs can operate freely.




This is my humble opinion.
I agree that shutting a computer on and off is not good for it.
However, I
don't agree that leaving it on all the time is a also a good idea.
Heat is
generated by computers and laptops (which I own), get fairly warm. I
don't
think the perpetual heat is good for it. I generally shut down a
computer
when I'm not going to use it for a couple of hours or if I turn on
another
one. I never leave it on all night.
I could be all wrong with what I do but my computers seem to last without
many problems and I will keep doing it this way. I have a Compaq laptop
that is 6 years old and still running and 3 Dells, one of which is 4
years
old.
I have all the power options to "never" as I don't run the computers on
batteries and feel that having the hard drive shutting off and on
isn't good
for it.

Carol




  #8  
Old November 23rd 03, 04:37 PM
WSZsr
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I use standby to conserve electricity and minimize wear and tear on the
components. I set the Power Options to put my monitor to sleep after 10
minutes, my hard drives after 15 minutes and my system to standby after 20
minutes. It wakes up quickly when I press any key. There is no definitive
answer to your question. Just do what you are most comfortable with.


"HistoryFan" wrote in message
...
I own a Dell 2400. I'm somewhat leery of re-starting a tired old
thread, but I'd appreciate some feedback.

In all the years I've owned a computer, I always turned it on in

the
morning, and turned it off at night. I didn't see any point in leaving

the
computer on and wasting electricity. Yet in recent threads here, many

have
speculated that leaving the PC on 24/7 actually saves wear and tear on the
computer. Is that correct?

I'm somewhat tempted to leave the PC on 24/7 because I recently
enabled the automatic updates for Norton and Windows. Example: Norton had

a
scheduled update at 10:30pm Saturday, but I turned off the computer at

10pm.
When I turned on the machines this morning and checked, the next update
wasn't scheduled until 10:30pm this evening....so Norton is still waiting

to
do the 10:30pm check. That is too long to check for updates. I know how

to
reset the LiveUpdate schedule, but having to do so every day is too

tedious.

Finally, if I do leave the PC on 24/7, should I make any changes

to
the Power Options? Currently everything is set to NEVER. I want to make
sure the update programs can operate freely.





  #9  
Old November 23rd 03, 05:04 PM
Shaun Marolf
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

"HistoryFan" wrote in
:

I own a Dell 2400. I'm somewhat leery of re-starting a tired old
thread, but I'd appreciate some feedback.

In all the years I've owned a computer, I always turned it on in
the
morning, and turned it off at night. I didn't see any point in leaving
the computer on and wasting electricity. Yet in recent threads here,
many have speculated that leaving the PC on 24/7 actually saves wear and
tear on the computer. Is that correct?

I'm somewhat tempted to leave the PC on 24/7 because I recently
enabled the automatic updates for Norton and Windows. Example: Norton
had a scheduled update at 10:30pm Saturday, but I turned off the
computer at 10pm. When I turned on the machines this morning and
checked, the next update wasn't scheduled until 10:30pm this
evening....so Norton is still waiting to do the 10:30pm check. That is
too long to check for updates. I know how to reset the LiveUpdate
schedule, but having to do so every day is too tedious.

Finally, if I do leave the PC on 24/7, should I make any changes
to
the Power Options? Currently everything is set to NEVER. I want to
make sure the update programs can operate freely.




I keep mine on 24/7 but that's mostly because of the huge amount of e-mail
I get and to keep my mailbox from becoming unmanagable. However even with
standby settings the cost in power increases and it will add to the power
bill. Since I run a an old GX1 system as a linux based server as well which
is always on and does not go into standby (except the monitor output, which
matters little since no monitor is attached actually.) You need to look at
cost vs. need. Generally if you don't need the system on at night it really
doesn't hurt to shut it down. The constant on and off in a course of a day
does the damage but turning on in the morning and then shutting it down at
night doesn't do that much.

--Shaun
  #10  
Old November 23rd 03, 06:06 PM
Joan
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I'm sure its not the server, its my bosses husband who takes care of the
server and gets us no name PC's w/64 meg of ram w/Win98. He is in the
business of setting up networks for clients. They also have a DSL line
(they are located in a small town) and their DSL line is down many
times. We connect to their server on a modem and use the Yardi Program.
We are a Management Company for subsidized housing facility. I finally
gave up asking for more ram from him and went out and purchased 256 meg
of ram from CompUSA and installed it myself. Our situation is almost
laughable.

Joan

Leythos wrote:
In article Ge4wb.5537$dO2.1337@lakeread03, says...

Oh, our Company Server, Win NT I think, stays on all night because it
does its backup and maintenance during the night, but I swear it goes
down once a week. :-( not on purpose. :-) We have about 30 company
PC's connecting to that server for our Yardi Program. All individual
PCs are shut down each night.



I have 14 servers in my home, and as many workstations also. I never
shut down the servers - one NT 4 server has more than 2 years up time.
The workstations are only turned off when they won't be used for several
days.

The only issue with leaving them running is that the fans wear-out
quicker.

On laptops I always shut them down - they don't handle heat as well as a
large case.


 




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