Leaving PC on 24/7(healthy or not)

bikemanAMD

OSNN Junior Addict
Joined
4 Aug 2004
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Hi

I'm wondering still if this healthy, my best friend says it is, and my other friend says it's not healthy for the PC. so I'm kinda confused if it is or not healthy for the PC to stay on, and if it's sits idle most of the time, if it's better to shutdown at night time?


Thanks all

P.S. Finally able to post here a little more, not sure how often yet, but getting unbusy in real life a bit
 
What would you rather do? It's up to you, but there is no harm in leaving it running 24/7. Mine's been running almost constantly for 2 yrs with no problems. Comes in handy to leave it on if you have proggies that need to run constantly (Folding@Home for instance).

vivid
 
Mine is always running. Someone once told me it's more wear and tear on the HD to boot up everyday *shrug*
 
Well I may consider leaving it on then, I just never did it, since used to always get yelled at for it running, but my sister has been getting away with it up in her room, so I think i could get away with it down here, I just don't want any damage to happen, or power supply to explode and cause the machine to die eariler than I plan to replace it.

I know it's up to me, so maybe I'll make right decision sometime
 
About the worst thing is power usage. I have started using a auto shut off and power on program to shut down when I go to sleep and turn on before I wake. No sense having it on while I'm not awake.
 
Yeah, Well I will decide what I'm gonna do for sure soon.. thanks for the replies though..

Any risk of hackers being on wireless network if I do leave it on? only using Norton AV 2005 with Internet worm protection and wireless router's simple firewall

Any other opinions concerning hackers or anything dangerous, will it be too cold in the basement for the PC to be on all the time.
 
I kinda think it would be a lil less healthy cause everything isrunning more which well lessin the length of the hardware. I couldcareless if it does cause i mean nobody really keeps the same computerfor the expected span of the hardware. I usually have mine on cept wheni go to bed cause its in my room and i can hear the funs running :S.

edit: didnt see your new posts. The hacker thing shouldnt be a bigdeal. You still have the same chance of getting hacked as u would besitting there. Also it would be better to have your computer in acolder area. From my computer being switched from upstairs my tempdropped 5-10 degrees.
 
Thanks for all the replies!!..I really appreciate it, one problem I was gonna post on eariler, seems to have solved itself, no longer blue screens when I unplug headphones for Audigy 2's Drive bay thingy.
 
doesn't matter but i think jewelzz has a point it's better than leaving it on rather than having to turn off and back on the devices, my computer is too loud i trun it off when i sleep
 
i think it'd probably be slightly more healthy, as well as how some people said it's more convenient, to leave it running. less heating and cooling and heating and cooling etc... All those temp changes would probably do a bit more damage than it being at one semi-consistent temp.
 
with QC the level it is nowadays, I think it doesn't matter either way...
 
My old pc is over 5 years old, it has been running constantly the whole time, with reboots here and there only when it needed it. Majority of the time it's been kept on. It still runs like a champ - It's an HP by the way, the second best computer ever made, next to a dell ;)
 
I never shut mine off either (all four of them). Other than being concerned about power usage, I wouldn't be worried about how dentrimentle it is on the machine.


Heeter
 
I have a pentium 3 box in my office that has been running solid since 1998 (local webserver). :) The only times it has ever been off are a couple of power outages and one upgrade for more ram and windows XP Pro.

The wear on a computer is probably only marginally higher if you leave the machine on constantly. It is really just a matter of preference.

I usually leave my desktop on all the time but turn off my laptop at night.
 
albybum said:
I have a pentium 3 box in my office that has been running solid since 1998 (local webserver). :)...

TittleBitties said:
... i mean nobody really keeps the same computerfor the expected span of the hardware...
hehehe :lick: :D :)

Anyways, yeah TB you are wrong, it is just you and many youngsters with enough cash or generosity that dump old hardware, often the old stuff has proved it can run and run.

As to the topic - I would add that I think thread so far has only touched on desktops and (maybe) racked. For a laptop I would say it is a no no to run 24/7 permanently (although I know some will disagree and it does depend if you fold or load your machine). But for Desktop I come down on the side of 24/7 is good - esp. if you run a client app like folding or seti@home where you see added value. One rider is that you need a machine that is stable with reasonable temps - I left mine on and was away weekend and even learnt something because I got a 3oC drop in CPU temp - which I attribute to the HD contribution withing the case!

Also for any racked system I would DEFINITELY say 24/7 is the designed mode of operation. At the end of the day though, it is user choice - Hardware has moved on (so TB had a point in his usual style he maybe fluffed it up though!)
 
They're machines, they're designed to run. It's really up to you if you want to leave it running 24/7. The only reason I ever used to turn my x86 machine off at night was because of the noise, fortunately that's not a problem with the Mac, so it's left on all the time.

People have arguments regarding whether the hardware is best left running, or shut off nightly, but as I say, it's built to run, if something's going to die, it will die regardless of whether you ran it 24/7 or for 4-8 hours a day.

As for hackers, don't worry, as long as you're secure you'll be fine. The likeliness of being hacked depends no more on how long the machine is on for, as it does that the machine is on at the right (or wrong, as it may be) time. Make sure you're using WPA on your wireless connection, and up to date on any machine that's left turned on (there are other precautions, those are the basic first steps though :))
 
when i had dsl i always kept it on, so i could download 24/7 but im on dail up so now im on the laptop for net, and just use my pc when i need to do somthing, haha when i get to canada it will be back to always on baby!
 
Used to, even used to change hardware with it on.

Not anymore, worried about risks of a malfunction and fire or something like that.
 

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