How often to shutdown computer?

[lots]

Its both good and bad. From an OS perspective, shutting your computer down (or at least rebooting) every once and a while helps clear up memory. However the physical act of shutting down and starting up puts wear on all the mechanical parts in the computer (Hard drive CD drive, fans, etc.). Though, these days hard drives tend to shut down after long periods of no use, and fans can speed up and slow down depending on temperatures while the system is running.

So I would say, it doesnt REALLY matter. Personally I run my machines 24/7. The only time I reboot is when a windows update forces me to.

[catnip]

I always shut my computer off at night, and unplug everything too, especially in the spring and summer when there are thunderstorms. Even though I have an UPS, I'm still very paranoid about lightning hitting my computer equipment... :eek:

[DuttyFoot]

I shut mine down all the time. and during thunderstorms i always unplug everything. i lost two modems because of thunderstorms.

[locke2121]

Its fine to just shut one down at the end of the day. It gives time for circuts to cool off, capacitors to discharge and so forth. And while the mechanical parts to have to wind up and off each day, it won't really cause any more wear that having them running 24/7.

[lots]

Its more wear for a hard drive to spin up, rather than to sit at idle. But since most drives tend to shut off after some time has passed while the system is up, this factor isnt much a problem these days

[Valkyrien]

Well, never, actually:) This box has been running for very nearly two years straight...only turned it off (as opposed to restarting, which I usually do every week or so, whenever a new update or something requires it) for moving and upgrading the hardware:) Only thing that ever died from wear and tear was my old HD, which was a Hitachi DeskStar dating back to 2001 (yes, from the bad run of DeskStars that mostly died within months, only mine lasted years). So no, it's no crime to leave it on all the time. Turn the monitors off when you're done though:)

[PanzerMKZ]

I turn off when the power runs out. About once a month my power goes out. I got to invest in UPS. And when I get my linux box stable I don't think I will have to even reboot for awhile.



Panzer

[newman]

Computers nowaday are designed to run 24/7; that being said, you have to understand that this is meant for companies - which are usually equipped with UPS systems. Also, making sure that your computer's temperatures are in the green at all times is a good idea before leaving it on all the time. When I'm at home my computer is on all the time. When I'm not, I power it down, and, if there are dark clouds in the sky I unplug it from the power sockets and the phone line - don't want to loose a rather expensive system to a lightning bolt.
With an UPS system, surge protectors and good cooling, you should be safe leaving it on in 98% of the time - but bear in mind that nothing but unplugging it will protect it from a direct lightning hit in your house.. if that kind of power gets in your power grid chances are that anything hooked on to it will be toast..

[salmonmoose]

Most electronics are better off running all the time - however most computers are not passively cooled solid state machines.

That being said, my computers run 24/7 and I only restart for Patch Tuesday. Devices that suffer from wear are controlled by power management - so my monitor and hard drives will power down.

I don't know about elsewhere, but here you're pretty safe if your grid gets hit by lightning, the biggest danger is if your house gets hit, but that's preventable with a rod.

Often switches are less than perfect, and lots of the stress on electronic devices comes when you turn them on, there is frequently a spike of electricity from the power switch - this is why light globes often blow out when you turn them on.

So leaving something in standby mode is often a better idea. Modern computers do not actually turn off when you tell them to, they go into a standby mode, there's still a trickle of power flowing through the power supply. (Good quality power supplies have a 'hard' power switch which will turn the computer completely off).

There is also the issue of the huge change in temperatures you're exposing your computer to if you turn in on and off. Modern CPUs can run at ~60 celcius, the natural temperature is much lower than that, you're exposing your computer to huge, and reasonably rapid shifts in temperature - I've not seen any stern warning about this, but it's a concern I've held since I witnessed one of the original pentium 60s exploding due to heat.

[newman]

Modern CPUs can run at ~60 celcius, ..

Actually they SHOULD run much lower then that. Anything between 40-50 is fine, 60C is rather hot for a standard desktop CPU. Unless you're talking about GPUs, some of which run over 75-80... I agree that you reduce the life expectancy of your computer by exposing it to temperature differences when turning it on and off, but even like that it will still last much longer then it will take for 99% of the users to replace it. Computers nowadays become outdated in 2-3 years at the maximum, and can remain operational for much longer then that.. As for lightning strikes, there are times when even the lightning rod doesn't help.. But granted, it should help in most cases.

[lots]

Well technically, if you wanna go by thier specs, most CPUs are rated for a maximum of 85 to 90 C. Granted any temperatures near that, and the CPU usually produces random errors :)

[newman]

I stand corrected.. all I know is when's a good time to start panicking ;)

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