# Do You Turn Your Computer Off (When Not Using It)?



## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

I've been having a little trouble lately with my computer being reluctant to start when I turn it on each morning. I usually have to go away and leave it awhile, then try again in an hour. Or else just sit there, hitting the button over and over until it finally starts. Hubby suggests we get around this problem by not turning it off ever again. This seems very strange to me but he says some of his friends leave theirs running day and night. I've been doing this for about a week now and, so far, it doesn't seem to be overheating or anything. But if just feels weird, like it can't be good for it to never rest, you know? 

What's the consensus? Does everybody leave their computers running all the time or is it normal to turn them off when you're done using them for the day?


----------



## ◄ Jess ► (Apr 21, 2010)

Why not just let it sleep/hibernate at night? That way it's not using much power and still gets to rest. You'll probably still have to reboot it once in awhile, but I don't see anything wrong with leaving it on. DH leaves his on all the time and I know others that do too. I turn mine off at night, but it's mainly just to save power.


----------



## C_Routon (Jun 7, 2012)

I used to leave mine on until a power surge knocked it off. Then when I tried to reboot it wouldn't do anything. I'm using a laptop now and I turn it off whenever I'm done with it now. I figure better safe than sorry. I discovered that the power in my house isn't very reliable. There are often mini power surges and it was one of these that knocked out my computer.


----------



## Todd Young (May 2, 2011)

I have an iMac and I leave it on sleep. I hardly ever turn it off. The only time I ever really do is when I need to install updates, or if I go away for a few days.


----------



## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

I'm on a MacBook Pro.  Only turn it off overnight.


----------



## JezStrider (Jun 19, 2012)

I leave mine on most of the time.  If you don't have a good surge protector, I wouldn't recommend it.  One time I had a similar problem.  It was a power supply going bad.


----------



## Randirogue (Apr 25, 2011)

I turn mine off, turn off the magic mouse, and unplug the charger from it. I used to put it away on its spot on the bookcase. It's a laptop.


----------



## Daniel A. Roberts (Jul 1, 2012)

Having taught Dell technicians how to be better technicians for a number of years before I switched careers, I can give you all a little background on the on/off thing and how it developed.  Then I'll discuss the boot-up-of-infinity.  

Before 1997, and some computer makers (non major branded) up to 1997, computer architecture had a slightly different on/off platform.  The older models actually used a physical relay to power the system on and off.  You could tell because of how far you had to depress the button to hear the 'click' for the computer to come on.  Those older system boards would get a tiny micro-jolt each and every time it was cycled off and on again.  Such things would hurt the resistors and capacitors over time, reducing the life of the computer.  Thus the practice was born.  Only turn it off and back on again rarely.  To help this process, power backups were developed in case an office building lost power, and the system wouldn't run the boot cycle.  It would remain on until the power was restored.  Over time and growing use, such power backup systems became available to the general public.

All of that changed from 1997 up to the present day.  PC architecture got an upgrade.  The physical relay got replaced with what is known as a 'soft' power switch.  The software embedded in the CMOS (Crystal Mercury Oxide Semiconductor) would detect the call for the computer to be cycled on or off, and would safely power up or down the system board without the micro jolts to the components.  However, as a bonus, the way system boards are built regardless of the chips, resistors and capacitors, thanks in part to the silicon bread board design, were capable of running for prolonged periods of time.  

That way, the die-hard old school PC guru could still leave his PC running all the time without any problem for the computer, yet the newer PC users could now cycle their PC's on and off all they wanted with no extra wear and tear on the system board components.  

The next sections are advice only and not endorsed, the only process, nor any form of liability.  Use and do at your own risk.  

Now, about the boot up time where you could have breakfast, smoke a cigarette, play a game of Yahtzee with the neighbors just to find out you were almost to the desktop... is a factor of many different possible evils.  Before you suspect the hardware, you need to rule out the software.  Which is much easier said than done.  If you can go into Safe Mode and get to the desktop much faster than you can in normal mode, it's your operating system.  Backup any critical data you don't want to lose.  Consult a local tech or lookup how to do a 'clean' reinstall of your operating system.  Some manufacturers (not all) provide a recovery disk, or an image on the original hard drive, that will restore the software back to factory, out of the box condition.  If it suddenly stays fast upon booting up, problem resolved.  Restore your data files you previously saved.  

If it reboots fast three or four times after a clean install and it slows down again quickly... that's one oftwo major evils.  A boot-sector virus, or a failing hard drive.  Get the hard drive cleaned and redone again with another clean install.  If it fails again, or if 'any' clean install starts generating blue screens.... get another hard drive and start over.  

If none of this makes any sense, and you feel intimidated by the process, seek a friendly computer guy in your area.  Nobody, and I mean nobody, should have to live through a boot up process that takes more than a few minutes, tops.  

Good luck.  ^_^


----------



## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Wow, thanks for all the info, Daniel. And thanks to everybody for weighing in. I think I'll ask my bro-in-law to take a look at it. He's a computer guy.


----------



## *DrDLN* (dr.s.dhillon) (Jan 19, 2011)

I used to turn off every night. But now for the last many years, I always keep it on. There is no problem. It does go into sleep mode when not in use. I use Sony laptop with window 7.  As for surge, I connect everything through surge protector. IMO, it is better to leave it on than turning on and off.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I basically don't turn my main system off. . .though the screen goes off and/or it hibernates depending on how long I've been away from it.  I like to keep my email program open all the time. . .it's set to check for new messages every 12 hours or so even if I'm not home.  That way even if I miss something while traveling, it'll likely be on my home computer when I get back.

I have it plugged into an APC UPS which protects from surges and is smart enough to know to power it down if there's an extended power outage. . . mainly so open programs are properly closed first. Combination of hardware and software protection.  The modem and router also plug into the UPS.  Theoretically I have a couple of hours of time when the power goes out if it's needed.

In the storm the other night, after the power flickered once for a few seconds, I went ahead and turned the machine off. . . .started it from cold the next morning with no problems. . .except that the cable was out so there was no internet. 

My laptop sleeps/goes off on it's own, again, depending on when I last used it. . .and whether or not it's still plugged in or running on battery.  I pretty much never turn it off manually, though I do sometimes have to turn it back ON manually.   When connected to mains it's in a surge protecting power strip, generally.


----------



## MyBooksOnKindle (Apr 23, 2012)

Turn them off. You eventually will burn something out. It's ok if you are going to come back to the computer in an hour or two, but no more than that.


----------



## Stephen_Melling (Jun 26, 2011)

Mine stays on from morning until night when I have to turn it off or I'd never sleep...my PC has been moved to the bedroom.


----------



## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

There really is NO reason to turn your computer off.
Some of the original reasons were documented by Daniel.
Others, such as shutting down the screen (hence using screen savers) was do to the phosphurs in tube displays. But we don't use them anymore.
If you have questionable components they can finish wearing out if left on or get "jolted" by starting and stopping - just can't win.
The main problem of today's computers is heat.  If you are over-clocking your chips then you may want to limit the  time that the system is on.
If you have a power supply that is inadequate, you may want  to limit ......
If you have inadequate air-flow - you may want to .......
If you have a laptop and block the fan somehow - bad idea.
This happens when people actually put them on their laps or on top of some form of fabric and the fan gets blocked or clogged with fibers from the fabric.
But if you have the computer in a "normal operating environment" and it has correct parts, it should receive no harm from being used continuously.
As Dan pointed out the turning on and off can provide more harm.

And power surges (extra power), power brown outs (too little power) can damage some components.  So if you have a UPS (Uninteruptible Power Supply) in place you will pretty much eliminate these issues.  Not a power strip - even the best of these can only filter the dirty power and die rather than let a power surge through.  But they do nothing for a brown-out.  For that you need the battery back-up of a UPS.

Just sayin.......


----------



## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Thanks guys for giving me more to think on. Geoff, this is off-topic but your dog is so adorable! And I know what you mean about laptops. I burned through two of them before figuring out I wasn't actually supposed to hold them on my lap for long periods of time. They should change the name from laptop to tabletop.


----------



## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

Thank you for the compliment, Dara.
He is a fun little cairn.
We had a Westie who died of old age and wanted a similar dog but not the same because that would make us compare and be sad.
This guy is named Rascal and it fits him.  Cairns are one of the dogs from which others come, in their case a lot of the terriers come from the cairn.
They have pretty much no hereditary illnesses and are very active dogs.
And cute.

It has taken two laptops for my daughter to "get the message".
Oh well......


----------



## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Well, Rascal looks like a sweetheart. I love terriers. Really wanted a Westie at one time but wound up with two Yorkies in a row instead. They're spunky little fellows but have kept us laughing.


----------



## traceya (Apr 26, 2010)

Have to agree that Rascal is adorable and thanks to Daniel for all the computer info.  I have a surge protector for my desktop, I rarely use the laptop unless I'm travelling.  Most of the time it's on although I quite often turn it off when I'm finished at night but don't always and I've never had any problems with this or my previous computers.  I think nowadays, as Daniel said, computers are pretty much made to run 24/7 without any problems so power usage is about my only consideration, although it hibernates so that saves power.


----------



## Simon Haynes (Mar 14, 2011)

I have the power button set to hibernate, and the PC set to auto-wake up at 6.55am. When I get up at 7.10-7.15 the computer has already taken a backup, downloaded updates, etc.

When I leave the PC for more than 30 minutes I hit the power button and walk away. Very quick to bring it back again. If yours is slow waking it may be the first signs of hard drive problems, so watch that closely. Make sure you have a good backup system in place.


----------



## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

I have three actual computers... one is a Mac mini that controls the home automation system and it runs all the time, and has for over 10 years (it's something like 20 watts at idle).

The second is my big desktop Win7 machine. It's in sleep or hibernation mode unless I'm actually using it (3-4 hours a week). It generates way too much heat to leave it on all the time even if didn't consume a lot of power doing so. This and the Mac mini are on UPSs.

The third is my Mac laptop. It stays on from mid-morning to about midnight and is my main machine. It sits by my recliner and checks email every 15 minutes, etc. I close the top and put it in sleep mode when I retire for the night (or when I leave the house). It is set to sleep anyway after an hour or so of non-use.

My iPad, iPod touch, smart phone, etc., hardly ever get turned all the way off.

To address the laptop heating problem, I cut a piece of Masonite to the same size as the laptop, put a 1" diameter, 3/8" high self-adhesive rubber spacer at each corner, and set the laptop on that. The spacers are generic stick-on non-skid feet that I got from a hardware store. The fan intake and exhaust on my Macbook are at the back of the computer, so I wasn't very worried about blocking them, but it got a bit too warm sitting on my lap after a while.

Mike


----------



## *DrDLN* (dr.s.dhillon) (Jan 19, 2011)

Simon Haynes said:


> ...When I leave the PC for more than 30 minutes I hit the power button and walk away. Very quick to bring it back again. If yours is slow waking it may be the first signs of hard drive problems, so watch that closely. Make sure you have a good backup system in place.


You mean hit the power button to wake it up (bring it back again) or for it to go in sleeping mode?

I normally hit "space" or "enter' key to bring it back. I have a fear of turning it off, if I hit power button. I wonder if hitting power button is better to bring it back??


----------



## C_Routon (Jun 7, 2012)

I don't like putting my computer into sleep mode because I had one crash on me at one point after it went into sleep mode. It's also annoying to be watching something on Netflix or Hulu and have it go into sleep mode because it's not reading any activity. Sleep mode is the first thing I turn off whenever I get a new computer. 

I like idea of the Masonite and the sticky feet things. I need to do that for my laptop due to the heat.


----------

