Turning off your computer
Monday, May 12, 2008 by Philly0381 | Discussion: Personal Computing
I mentioned this late one night in the IRC. Lets see what kind of response I get from the forums crowd.
When do you turn off your computer, everyday, only when an update requires a reboot (I guess that's turning off and then on your computer)?
Are then any good reasons for leaving your system on?
Other than using energy are there any good reasons for turning you system off?
Sorry, I'm talking a home computer, not associated with work or being a server.
Why am I asking, just curious. Way back when I started with computers in the work place we were told If we were going to be away from it for any length of time turn it off. We are talking long ago. 
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aufisch
Reply #43 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 1:14 AM
Reply #43 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 1:14 AM
I turn if off at night to cut down on the noise in my appartement, unless I do a full Virus-scan or a defrag, which I usually let run through the night.
Jafo
Reply #44 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 1:14 AM
Reply #44 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 1:14 AM
3 times a year...for about 4 days each....V8 Supercars, MotoGP and World Superbikes ....all at Phillip Island ....
MetalHellssAngel
Reply #45 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 3:24 AM
+1
Reply #45 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 3:24 AM
I turn my PC off when...
I am out of town for a few days.
No point in leaving the PC on if I'm not around at all.
When moving
Gotta disconnect it to haul.
Doing serious desk cleaning
Every year or so I disassemble my work area to clean everything out
When there's a thunderstorm
Even with a surge protector, better safe than sorry.
When applying an update
Gotta reboot.
Aside from that, the machine is always on. Less stress on the electronics from the power-up/power-down crap. I keep the room at a decent temp to so heat isn't an issue.
I am out of town for a few days.
No point in leaving the PC on if I'm not around at all.
When moving
Gotta disconnect it to haul.
Doing serious desk cleaning
Every year or so I disassemble my work area to clean everything out
When there's a thunderstorm
Even with a surge protector, better safe than sorry.
When applying an update
Gotta reboot.
Aside from that, the machine is always on. Less stress on the electronics from the power-up/power-down crap. I keep the room at a decent temp to so heat isn't an issue.
+1
Scotteh
Reply #46 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 6:18 AM
Reply #46 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 6:18 AM
My machine at work is turned on when i arrive in the morning and switched off when i leave. I don't really consider shutting it down as i'm a programmer and literally spend all day using it.
The same applies to my home machine, i turn it on when i get in (if i need to use it) and off at night before i go to bed.
SIR NASTY OF TANG
Reply #47 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 6:41 AM
Just went Thur this a hour ago!!! I shut down for this more then any thing else I think !!!!
Reply #47 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 6:41 AM
When the network acts up I shut off both computers, the router and cable modem for a cold reboot of the entire system
Just went Thur this a hour ago!!! I shut down for this more then any thing else I think !!!!
Bushman
Reply #48 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 7:53 AM
I'll second that. These are the only times I turn my system off also. When I'm not working or playing on it I log off and unplug my modem and Philly I read that same stuff about the LCD and Image Persistence.
Reply #48 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 7:53 AM
I turn my PC off when...
I am out of town for a few days.
No point in leaving the PC on if I'm not around at all.
When moving
Gotta disconnect it to haul.
Doing serious desk cleaning
Every year or so I disassemble my work area to clean everything out
When there's a thunderstorm
Even with a surge protector, better safe than sorry.
When applying an update
Gotta reboot.
Aside from that, the machine is always on. Less stress on the electronics from the power-up/power-down crap. I keep the room at a decent temp to so heat isn't an issue.
I am out of town for a few days.
No point in leaving the PC on if I'm not around at all.
When moving
Gotta disconnect it to haul.
Doing serious desk cleaning
Every year or so I disassemble my work area to clean everything out
When there's a thunderstorm
Even with a surge protector, better safe than sorry.
When applying an update
Gotta reboot.
Aside from that, the machine is always on. Less stress on the electronics from the power-up/power-down crap. I keep the room at a decent temp to so heat isn't an issue.
I'll second that. These are the only times I turn my system off also. When I'm not working or playing on it I log off and unplug my modem and Philly I read that same stuff about the LCD and Image Persistence.
denyasis
Reply #49 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 9:09 AM
Reply #49 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 9:09 AM
Its Off Whenever I'm not home or am asleep;
After All
Why wear down the parts if I'm not using them?
I just turn it on at 4 when I wake up. Auto update/various scanning is at 6 while I'm making/eating dinner and watching the evening news. Its off by 10:30 when I leave for work.
Turns back on around 7:30 when I come home and Its off and I'm in bed usually by 9 or 10.
After All
Why wear down the parts if I'm not using them?
I just turn it on at 4 when I wake up. Auto update/various scanning is at 6 while I'm making/eating dinner and watching the evening news. Its off by 10:30 when I leave for work.
Turns back on around 7:30 when I come home and Its off and I'm in bed usually by 9 or 10.
Philly0381
Reply #50 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 11:45 AM
Reply #50 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 11:45 AM
Once again thanks to everyone for repling.
It would appear that whether you turn off your computer once a day has only to do with what your personal perference might be.
Old habits seem very hard to break and I have yet to leave the computer on over night.
It would appear that whether you turn off your computer once a day has only to do with what your personal perference might be.
Old habits seem very hard to break and I have yet to leave the computer on over night.
SetarcosNous
Reply #51 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 12:20 PM
Which is why I said it was safer. If you've hibernated your machine, you can unplug it from the wall or go through a power failure with no ill effects. If you machine loses power while in standby, everything that was being maintained in memory is lost. You might as well have unplugged your machine from the wall while it was running as far as the system is concerned.
Reply #51 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 12:20 PM
If you can enable it, "hibernate" is a much safer bet.
Hibernate is basically equivalent to turning it off, except that the memory and state is saved to the hard drive before it is turned off. Standby saves power instead of turning it completely off.
Hibernate is basically equivalent to turning it off, except that the memory and state is saved to the hard drive before it is turned off. Standby saves power instead of turning it completely off.
Which is why I said it was safer. If you've hibernated your machine, you can unplug it from the wall or go through a power failure with no ill effects. If you machine loses power while in standby, everything that was being maintained in memory is lost. You might as well have unplugged your machine from the wall while it was running as far as the system is concerned.
RickJP
Reply #52 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 12:38 PM
Reply #52 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 12:38 PM
Turn mine on as soon as get out of bed. If work day turn it off before go out and back on as soon as get home, If not at work stays on until go to bed then turn it off.
Mumblefratz
Reply #53 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 1:30 PM
I also have an extra line cord with a physical switch just so that I can "really" turn off the power. However my criteria is closer to a few minutes.
You do realize that the power switch stopped being a power switch long ago. Nowadays the power switch is merely a power down request button that the system can chose to ignore.
Even when the system doesn't choose to ignore the powerdown request the processor is still kept powered up at all times if only so it can handle the power on request. God knows what else it does while on standby. I prefer not to find out.
Whenever I'm not using my PC I disconnect power from it. If HAL does indeed come to fruition it won't be because of me.
Reply #53 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 1:30 PM
At home I use a physical switch to disconnect mine completely from the line due to the amount of lightning we get where I live. Even so I've had a handful of modems get zapped thru the phone line while on surge protectors. The system goes on as I use it and off if I'm going to be away more than a 1 or 2 hours.
I also have an extra line cord with a physical switch just so that I can "really" turn off the power. However my criteria is closer to a few minutes.
You do realize that the power switch stopped being a power switch long ago. Nowadays the power switch is merely a power down request button that the system can chose to ignore.
Even when the system doesn't choose to ignore the powerdown request the processor is still kept powered up at all times if only so it can handle the power on request. God knows what else it does while on standby. I prefer not to find out.
Whenever I'm not using my PC I disconnect power from it. If HAL does indeed come to fruition it won't be because of me.
SetarcosNous
Reply #54 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 1:39 PM
I'm not positive, but I am pretty sure the CPU is inactive when powered down, and has little to no activity even during standby. The bios is what handles the power on/off requests, otherwise you would have to flip the switch on the power supply if your OS locked up.
I'd be more worried about SkyNet than HAL.
Reply #54 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 1:39 PM
Even when the system doesn't choose to ignore the powerdown request the processor is still kept powered up at all times if only so it can handle the power on request. God knows what else it does while on standby. I prefer not to find out.
I'm not positive, but I am pretty sure the CPU is inactive when powered down, and has little to no activity even during standby. The bios is what handles the power on/off requests, otherwise you would have to flip the switch on the power supply if your OS locked up.
If HAL does indeed come to fruition it won't be because of me.
I'd be more worried about SkyNet than HAL.
superman
Reply #55 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 2:39 PM
Reply #55 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 2:39 PM
No need to turn off? Leave it on.. No it doesnt consume power ..nothing it takes....BUT have you ever thought THERE ARE MANY DEVOID OF ELECTRICITY...and RESOURCES ON OUR EARTH ARE LIMITED...even a child knows then why not you ...turn every electronic appliances off when you dont need it.
skybright
Reply #57 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 3:49 PM
Nice article.
Reply #57 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 3:49 PM
US Department of Energy "When to turn off your computer"WWW Link
Nice article.
RemingtonRyder
Reply #58 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 5:42 PM
Reply #58 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 5:42 PM
I like using hibernate mode because if I'm in the middle of playing something I can jump right back in when I'm ready. However the performance of reawakening from hibernaton (versus a cold start + starting the game + loading your save file) depends heavily on how much memory was being used when your computer started hibernating. If the answer is 'lots' then you might as well go make a cup of tea while you wait, 'cause the bigger the hibernation file is the longer it'll take to shovel back into memory.
Wizard1956
Reply #59 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 6:01 PM
Reply #59 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 6:01 PM
If you call her ugly,forget her birthday,make odd gassing noises or make fun of what she's wearing, that's a sure-fire turn-off. Oh,computer....sorry 
voidcore
Reply #60 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 6:59 PM
Reply #60 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 6:59 PM
24/7 is the name of the game here 
a reboot is a hassle in my world
a reboot is a hassle in my worldPlease login to comment and/or vote for this skin.
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Reply #41 Tuesday, May 13, 2008 12:16 AM
Sleep mode, when it works. But it seems if the Media Center processes are running it does not like to go to sleep.
It'll also get powered down if my UPS starts beeping or the network starts acting really weird.
When the network acts up I shut off both computers, the router and cable modem for a cold reboot of the entire system.