# Leave the computer on? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 1, 2000, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-computer-on/27649 "2000-08-01T02:42:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2000, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-computer-on/27649/1 "2000-08-01T02:42:53Z")
When I first got a PC a few years ago, I heard this advice: Powering up the computer sends a big jolt of electricity through the delicate electronic stuff inside. Too much of this can eventually wear it out or something. So you can help it to last longer by leaving it on all the time even when you’re not using it. The amount of juice wasted is small, compared to the savings in not wearing it out by powering it down and back up again every time you use it. Is this advice still valid, or has today’s circuitry improved so that it doesn’t hurt to power it up? ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2000, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-computer-on/27649/2 "2000-08-01T02:59:34Z")
Yeah, this debate goes on and on. The way I see it, there are two ways of thinking about it. Powering on and off is hard on the circuitry. But leaving it on continuiously wears down the parts faster. So 6 of one, half a dozen of the other. I also hear that a computer’s actual life is pretty long, and usually they reach obsolescence before the curcuitry wears out. I usually put my computer to “sleep” if I am going to be away from it for the evening. If I am going to be away for over 16 hours, or something, I turn it off. Sort of a happen medium. Besides, I worry about power outages, and surges. Even though I use double surge protection, I would worry if I was away from it for so long, while it is plugged into the wall. I just feel better knowing it is unplugged from the power if I am going to be away from it for a _looong_ time. ---
**Author:** ![MinkMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minkman/32/19170_2.png) [@MinkMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MinkMan)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2000, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-computer-on/27649/3 "2000-08-01T03:02:18Z")
If you want to start a debate between a bunch of techies, ask them this question. It all depends on what is important to you. It isn’t going to mater in the long run whether you leave it on or power it off as far a life span goes. Barring manufacturing defects, your computer will be obsolete before it wears out regardless of whether you leave it on or not. If you are really concerned about power consumption, then it would probably be best to power it down when not in use, but were talking a few dollars a year here. I leave mine on 24/7 since I’m too impatient to wait for it to boot up every time I want to use it, and I like to burn spare cycles searching for ET with the SET@home screensaver. At work, we routinely leave machines powered up for years, and go several hundred days between reboots. (Of course that’s not running Windows 😃 ) ---
**Author:** ![triton277](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@triton277](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/triton277)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2000, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-computer-on/27649/4 "2000-08-01T07:29:26Z")
The problem now is wear and tear on the power button. Apparently it sucks to have to replace that. There’s a pretty easy solution though. Use a surge protector and leave the button on. Then when you turn on the surge protector, everything comes on. The computers fan is also always on when the computer is on, and that can wear down eventually too. Then there is the question of clearing up memory problems by shutting down. There are so many things to consider, this debate will never end. Of course, it probably doesn’t matter, seeing as how any computer will be nearly obselete two weeks after it’s bought, so do what you you damn well please, whatever’s your style. ---
**Author:** ![TheThill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheThill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheThill)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2000, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-computer-on/27649/5 "2000-08-01T11:20:23Z")
Don’t worry about the computers, just remember to shut off your lights, car motors and air conditioners (yes, I mean especially when its only 75F/24C outside!) They are the things wasting ridiculous amounts of energy and destroying our world! ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2000, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-computer-on/27649/6 "2000-08-01T14:03:28Z")
I’m of the school of thought, always leave your computer on. Servers, for example, are rarely shut down unless for maintaining and upgrading them or reboot to clear errors or memory. The reasoning isn’t the amount of electrical “surges” to your computer components so much as maintaining as constant a temperature as possible. Constant cooling and heating expands and contracts all metal parts, thereby diminishing the life span of parts. Today’s PCs are probably built with less sensitive components so my thinking may be based upon older systems like the Burroughs (UNIX) system I was assistant systems admin for back in 86-87. Actually, back then I was just the back up operator (we had to attend all back ups then) and helped determine minor problems and change passwords when the sys admin was on vacation. Personally, my system is rarely turned off unless I am gone for more than a day or two or severe lightning is forecast (I need to spend money on a decent UPS). ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2000, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-computer-on/27649/7 "2000-08-01T14:18:39Z")
I was under the impression that newer computers use the time they are off to “recharge.” I do know that both my home and work machines act up after they have been on for extended periods of time… * * * Yer pal, Satan \*I HAVE BEEN SMOKE-FREE FOR: Three months, three weeks, two days, 12 hours, 18 minutes and 19 seconds. 4580 cigarettes not smoked, saving $572.56. Life saved: 2 weeks, 1 day, 21 hours, 40 minutes. “Satan is not an unattractive person.”\*- **Drain Bead** (Thanks for the ringing endoresement, honey!) ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2000, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-computer-on/27649/8 "2000-08-01T17:40:15Z")
Satan, How does it act up? Chances are (from my experience) if you have Win 95 or Win 98 it’s the OS being a pain and not the components. Usually a simple reboot gets it’s working correctly again. ---
**Author:** ![Demise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@Demise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demise)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2000, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-computer-on/27649/9 "2000-08-01T17:57:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*I was under the impression that newer computers use the time they are off to “recharge.” \*\* The only type of computer component that needs to recharge would be a battery for notebook computers. Standard desktop machines don’t “recharge”. > [@](#): > > \*\* > I do know that both my home and work machines act up after they have been on for extended periods of time… > \*\* More likely a heat problem. If the components in a system get too hot, they start to act flakey. Its possible that the machines you are using aren’t being adequately cooled. Add a fan or three if possible. It also could be, as techchick says above, the OS. Windows (all flavors) has memory leakage problems from time to time, stemming from sloppy applications usually. Restarting the OS fixes this. I rarely need to reboot my home system (Win98) more than once every several weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2000, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-computer-on/27649/10 "2000-08-01T18:25:52Z")
Lately I’ve been powering down just the monitor. I’ve found that my den where I keep the computer is often noticably warmer than the rest of the house, and this seems to help. It’s a fairly small room, and my 19 inch monitor plus a TV really adds degrees. I can’t wait until LCD screens are reasonable, that should help a lot with this problem. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2000, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-computer-on/27649/11 "2000-08-01T22:40:05Z")
If Satan is a proud user of Windows 9x, his problem is the notorious “memory leak” that both 95 and 98 enjoy. When an application is opened, a certain amount of memory is allocated to running that program. One of the many, many, many unresolved problems with Windows 9x is that when an application is closed, some of that memory remains sequestered and can no longer be used. When memory resources reach a certain critical level, you can be assured of a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) or other random malfunctions. A restart clears up the problem, but who wants to do that? To check how much memory is being used, and wasted, in W9x, right-click on “My Computer,” click “Properties,” and then click the “Performance” tab. Right now my “System Resources” are at about 40% (from a starting point of about 89%). This after working on my 64 MB RAM machine constantly for about five hours. If I get this post up, it will be rather miraculous. As far as leaving a computer on, I don’t bother, for the abovementioned reason and because my comp will suck long before it blows. If it does blow, I have an excuse to move to a better, faster machine. ---
**Author:** ![Danielinthewolvesden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Danielinthewolvesden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danielinthewolvesden)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2000, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-computer-on/27649/12 "2000-08-01T23:21:54Z")
You can leave the computer on, or turn it off, its about 50/50 ( but do power down for extended absenses, such as the work computer over the weekend). BUT, fer krissakes, when you are leaving even for a few hours, but especially overnite: TURN THE FREAKIN MONITOR OFF. It is just a glorified Tv set. It drains about 10x the energy the computer does, and makes the area hotter. At work they refuse to do this, and the tech guys won’t back me up on this, as they say that folks will get confused and turn the computer off, which they don’t want. (The tech guys think we are all idiots & illiterates). ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2000, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-computer-on/27649/13 "2000-08-02T23:44:53Z")
Okay. Today’s power supply units are made so that they can take the voltage surge just fine. So turn them off. Also, I talked to Western Digital [cause we talked about this before] & they said that its better for the HD to turn the computer off at night. So there. Once again. ---
**Author:** ![Lazarus7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/67e7ee/32.png) [@Lazarus7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazarus7)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2000, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-computer-on/27649/14 "2000-08-03T03:51:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MinkMan \* > \*\* At work, we routinely leave machines powered up for years, and go several hundred days between reboots. (Of course that’s not running Windows 😃 ) \*\* My Win2K machine has been running since January without a reboot needed (I did shut it down when I moved as my UPS does not have the power to run over that length of time _smirk_ ) but that is another topic. Leave the thing on … why be bothered to wait for it to boot? Set advanced power management to shut down the few moving parts (besides the fans which are dirt cheap) and save power. Beyond that, as many have said, it is going to run for longer than you are going to want to run it. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2000, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-computer-on/27649/15 "2000-08-03T15:37:05Z")
You can make a BootCD & change the Bios to Boot from CD, then you can use any operating system. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2000, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-computer-on/27649/16 "2000-08-03T16:09:58Z")
You should leave your computer running when you are doing a search in the ARCHIVES: [Should I leave my computer running when it’s not in use?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mturnoff.html) ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2000, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-computer-on/27649/17 "2000-08-03T17:00:43Z")
- - - Leaving it on doesn’t get rid of memory leaks, as has been said. - Also to consider is that if you haven’t done any updating, there’s a bug in one version of Win98 that causes crashes at 56 or 57 days of continuous operation. A patch is available. - MC