Computer on or off?

Just purchased a new computer less than 2 months ago and in setting up automatic updates and scans I found that all updates and scans I scheduled were during the day so I have no need to keep it on at night. Is it better to leave the computer on all night or turn it off at night and turn it back on in the morning? Sounds like a silly question but I really don't know the answer and I would hate to find out I ruined something because I left it on or turned it off. Thanks for your help, Jack

 

Jack,

Just my personal preference, but I like to turn the computer off at night. I have done this for years on all my systems and have never had any problems due to that. Also, I had heard, at one time, that leaving them on all the time tends to slow them down a little.

Mike

 

I mainly only turned off my computer when I went to sleep due to it being close to where I slept and the noise was disrupting my sleep. After watching my power supply turn into a plasma cutter I am fully convinced that it is best to turn off a PC when you are not home or nearby.

 

I think it's a matter of personal preference.

We have our computers plugged into a UPS with a warning beep that can be heard for miles. We live in an area where power outages are not uncommon. So, we turn our computers off at night to avoid being blasted awake by the UPS if the power goes off.

 

Just my two cents... and that is all it is.... I worked in Information Systems when I was in the Air Force back when a 486 DX 2/66 and UB2s were the hottest things. We left them on 24/7 and never had a problem. My home system is on all the time just for the convenience of not having to wait for it to boot up.

Turn if off if you want to ..... it won't hurt it
Leave it on if you want to..... it won't hurt it

Personal preference is all that matters

 

She lied to me again!

 

My wife and I (we each have our own) leave ours on all the time (with an occasional reboot). The main reason for this is that we like to run updates and scans during the wee hours of the morning when the computers are not in use. If it does cost a bit more in terms of power, it's relatively negligible and doesn't really concern us. As for "slowing down" due to being on all the time, I have never noticed this to be the case so I'm not sure where this story originated.

Anyway... it's just our personal preference. I suppose we could schedule our updates and scans during the day when we're both working but I also don't like the idea of having to wait every morning while the computer boots. As for rebooting... oh... a couple of times a week usually suffices.

All the best.

 

If your computer has a cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor, then I would suggest at least turning the monitor off whenever you're not using it. Over time, I think the CRT monitor will gradually get dimmer and you'll find yourself upping the contrast and brightness every few/several months. That's been my experience anyway. I expect turning off the monitor when not using it will extend the satisfactory performance of the monitor.

Turning off the monitor will also cut down the energy usage.

 

We have LCD flat screen monitors. Not sure if the same applies but I can't say I've noticed anything like that. Besides, I basically change my stuff out every three years rather than upgrade. This time I'm extending it to a fourth year (unless my wife has objections). I'm looking at a new DSLR and they're a little pricey. We both reboot about once a week. Like I said, having it on in the wee hours allows me to use the schedulers to run scans and clean-ups of various sorts so I'm not bothered by that during the day.

 

I didn't think about that until I read this. I have a twelve year old CTX 1765GMe and lately have had to up the contrast a little from time to time. Thanks mailman.