Off topic question

Usually I leave it running. With power options set to power down the monitor and drives.

OK sounds good. But do you leave the computer on when your not around or shut it down as in completely off?

from all the computer

running 24/7 or should

when your finished

the consenses on

power down the monitor

goes

other day

file

contained

power

brownouts

hear that about the UPS.. been using one for years and its saved me many times...

Good question, but you'll get better answers if you ask a newsgroup dedicated to computer hardware. (You wouldn't ask there for advice on locks, right?)

The basic answer is It Depends.

Turning it off completely does slightly increase your protection against power line surges, and reduces wear on the hard disk. On the other hand, turning a machine on and off is itself a surge (though a minor one), and at least one of the common hard disk failure modes ("stiction") only occurs when the disk drive stops. Not to mention that switches fail when used, not when just sitting there...

Modern machines can be set to power down the hard disks and processor and display when not in use, which is a good compromise -- near-instant resumption of operation, with very low draw. This requires that you use a power-saving screen saver (ie, a _REAL_ screen saver), not a do-something-interesting-with-the-screen toy. Note too that it doesn't power all the way down if the machine is doing real work; if you're running seti@home or one of its cousins, which is designed to soak up any cycles you aren't using, that will generally keep the processor fully powered up (though the screen will generally power down if you let it do so).

Given how fragile Microsoft's operating systems are, shutting them down and restarting them periodically might be a good thing. Or might not be, for the same reasons.

What do _I_ do? I leave the system on but configured to power down when idle, which is pretty much what IBM recommends. But I do generally turn the display off manually rather than wait for the screen saver to power it down. I do have a decent surge suppressor between me and the wall, on both power and phone lines; if there's a particularly gawdawful thunderstorm and I'm feeling paranoid, I not only power down but _UNPLUG_ from both power and phone; the best surge suppressor is no connection.

My system has a sleep mode, unless I am going to be gone for a long while I just shut down the open programs and select stand by from the shutdown menu.

I leave mine on most of the day.I have the options set to power down if it is idle more than 10 minutes. I do however turn it completely off if I'm leaving the house or if there is a godawful thunderstorm.Don't have much surge protection-as of yet. Ralph.

Be aware that most UPS systems, even the good ones, have only the MINIMUM surge protection. Their main purpose is to prevent data loss during a power outage. If you want good protection against spikes & power surges, get a GOOD surge protector. These can both be used at the same time.

| >>

| >> Sorry to be off topic but I need a question answered from all the computer | >>gurus in the group. Is it best to leave your computer running 24/7 or should | >>you switch it off at the end of the day, or basicaly, when your finished | >>using it. I turn mine off at the end of each day. What's the consenses on | >>this. Thanks all. | >>

| >>-- | >>Steve Paris L/S | >>Tropical Cairns Nth Queensland | >>Australia. | >>

| >Usually I leave it running. With power options set to power down the monitor | >and drives. | UPS... with the software to shut it down if the power goes | down... | they are quite reasonable... bought a 1000VA one the other day | and after rebate was $90... | | CLOSE all the running programs, 'maybe' back up the data file | for the book keeping part... | this is NOT a spike protector, but a complete self contained | power supply- will run for so many minutes if it detects a power | outage AND close the computer down... plus stops the brownouts | and spikes... | | --Shiva-- | nuk pu nuk |

Daniel