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ForumsDiscussion Forum → How long you keep your computer on?
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How long you keep your computer on?
2005-11-14, 11:21 AM #41
I keep mine on during the day.. whether i'm using it or not.

I turn it off at night unless i'm doing something that's gonna take a long time. Like downloading a large file.

I turn my computer on before I head off to unversity so I can VNC to it, get and save files to/from it.
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2005-11-14, 11:21 AM #42
Turned off when not in use.
nope.
2005-11-14, 11:56 AM #43
I turn it off at night. The LEDs keep my room pretty illuminated when I'm trying to sleep and I'm too lazy to kill them, so I just turn it all off.
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2005-11-14, 12:11 PM #44
I usually leave mine on for about a week at a time.
2005-11-14, 1:37 PM #45
Originally posted by phoenix_9286:
24/7 I don't reboot unless something really goes wrong.

Record time since installing XP is a month.... which is incredibly sad and a testimate to how stable my system is running it. Under 2k with little change in running and installed programs I was getting 3 or 4 month uptimes.


3 and 4 months? I can't go that long, even if I wanted to. Driver updates force me to restart every month or so, if nothing else.
D E A T H
2005-11-14, 2:34 PM #46
I just close the lid of my laptop whenever I'm not using it. I almost never turn the whole thing off.
"Flowers and a landscape were the only attractions here. And so, as there was no good reason for coming, nobody came."
2005-11-14, 3:00 PM #47
I read that it's about $15 to keep your computer on for an entire month. Although for us Californians it's $175 per month...and that's JUST the computer.

I leave my machine on constantly. I've actually grown accustomed to the whirrs of the computer fans. When I do turn it off, it's eerily silent in me room. I should turn my machine off more often though, just to save energy costs.
Code to the left of him, code to the right of him, code in front of him compil'd and thundered. Programm'd at with shot and $SHELL. Boldly he typed and well. Into the jaws of C. Into the mouth of PERL. Debug'd the 0x258.
2005-11-14, 3:04 PM #48
Wow, NO ONE read my post. The majority of PCs don't use ANY electricity at all [except for LEDs and fans] unless being used. Even when on.

I can PROVE this in front of your eyes with a high powered AC reader [not one of those cheap ones]! We actually tested for an entire month in A+, just to prove our point [And win a bet with the neighboring school, who suggested otherwise. We won a pizza party paid by them :-D]

JediKirby
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2005-11-14, 3:13 PM #49
I read your post. I just put a more tangible value (in this case cost) as to how little juice PCs use. Even those CRTs don't use as much wattage as originally thought. In any given moment, I believe only about 70-100 W is used for the CPU. Granted power consumption varies depending on usage. This is why I don't have ridiculously large PSUs (400-500 W).
Code to the left of him, code to the right of him, code in front of him compil'd and thundered. Programm'd at with shot and $SHELL. Boldly he typed and well. Into the jaws of C. Into the mouth of PERL. Debug'd the 0x258.
2005-11-14, 3:18 PM #50
Originally posted by JediGandalf:
I read that it's about $15 to keep your computer on for an entire month. Although for us Californians it's $175 per month...and that's JUST the computer.

I leave my machine on constantly. I've actually grown accustomed to the whirrs of the computer fans. When I do turn it off, it's eerily silent in me room. I should turn my machine off more often though, just to save energy costs.


Yeah, except the last part. I proved to my uncle that it took almost no power, and he just shook his head and walked off. ;)
D E A T H
2005-11-14, 3:21 PM #51
Not to derail the thread or anything, but since we're on the topic of leaving them on or off, are there any advantages to turning them off or leaving them on? They used to tell you that you should turn it off and let it rest every now and then so that your computer would last longer. I've never really followed that, so I have no idea whether it was/is true or not.
Life is beautiful.
2005-11-14, 3:25 PM #52
I believe that's probably an issue more slated towards the past. PCs now are made far more durable, and a lot more user friendly. Things don't burn out due to age as often anymore, and burn out more than likelly due to faults. The last few generations of Mobos have been astoundingly more proficient than older models. The issue now adays isn't burning out your PC's hardware, but more along the lines of keeping it up to date in the most cost-efficient way possible. That said, leaving your machine on for a long period of time doesn't seem to have any negative effects that I myself see. While turning it on and off does allow the PC to run a self diagnostic, I far prefer 3rd party apps to windows, as those can do it while my machine is running, and are far more thurough (sp?). My suggestion is to leave it on for power sake, and for continuity. Downloading things while away is nice, as well as using your machine for server purposes, like mIRC bots and whatnot is a definate plus. My machine also doubles as an answering machine, with all the messages I get by the time I get home.
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2005-11-14, 3:29 PM #53
Mine is on all the time, it makes a nice space heater for my room
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2005-11-14, 3:54 PM #54
Originally posted by Genki:
Mine is on all the time, it makes a nice space heater for my room

Haha yeah. My parents used to yell at me to turn mine off, but now with heating so expensive they encourage that all PCs be left on. They want to hold off from turning the furnace on as long as possible, so right now my comp is my only source of heat :D
2005-11-14, 8:57 PM #55
Originally posted by Warlord:
Haha yeah. My parents used to yell at me to turn mine off, but now with heating so expensive they encourage that all PCs be left on. They want to hold off from turning the furnace on as long as possible, so right now my comp is my only source of heat :D



You get away with alot by just heating your house enough to make sure the pipes don't freeze and burst.

You'll have to wear layers though. Thats what we do here anyways, and we save assloads of money on the heat bill.
2005-11-14, 9:29 PM #56
[QUOTE=Dj Yoshi]3 and 4 months? I can't go that long, even if I wanted to. Driver updates force me to restart every month or so, if nothing else.[/QUOTE]
I stock up on my driver updates and just do them whenever the system goes down finally. And XP has just been really unstable for me.... I had to reboot 3 days ago just because Ctrl Alt Del stopped working... The Task Manager refused to come up. Before that I had a random out of the blue restart when I asked it to create a new folder.
"In the beginning, the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move." - Douglas Adams
Are you finding Ling-Ling's head?
Last Stand
2005-11-14, 9:35 PM #57
Originally posted by phoenix_9286:
I stock up on my driver updates and just do them whenever the system goes down finally. And XP has just been really unstable for me.... I had to reboot 3 days ago just because Ctrl Alt Del stopped working... The Task Manager refused to come up. Before that I had a random out of the blue restart when I asked it to create a new folder.


That seems EXTREMELY odd. I've never had problems even close to that unless I had a virus on XP. You using SP2?
D E A T H
2005-11-14, 10:34 PM #58
I keep mine on just about all the time, though I'll turn off my monitor when it's not in use. Also, I live alone in a one bedroom apartment, and the amount of heat my PC generates is enough to keep the apartment at a comfortable 70-75 degrees when its much colder outside. Although sometimes when its a bit warmer it heas up to around 80-85 degress in the apartment, and then I waste money by turning on the A/C.
Marsz, marsz, Dąbrowski,
Z ziemi włoskiej do Polski,
Za twoim przewodem
Złączym się z narodem.
2005-11-15, 9:25 AM #59
What does leaving it on all the time do to your fan longevity?

I turn mine off every other night, and I always have it set to stop the hard drive after 20 minutes of inactivity. It just seems that the constant spinning, and the resulting heat, can't do it any good.
2005-11-15, 12:17 PM #60
Originally posted by Rob:
You get away with alot by just heating your house enough to make sure the pipes don't freeze and burst.

You'll have to wear layers though. Thats what we do here anyways, and we save assloads of money on the heat bill.

thanks for the tips :)

it's going to be a long, cold winter.
2005-11-15, 12:42 PM #61
Originally posted by Warlord:
it's going to be a long, cold winter.


Get a nice hot blankie!

Or a girlfriend. (but that might not be all that great if you're looking to save money:p)
Was cheated out of lions by happydud
Was cheated out of marriage by sugarless
2005-11-15, 1:01 PM #62
I leave mine on at all times, and I turn the monitor off at night. I come and go so much from my computer and so randomly that I just got into the habit of leaving it on - and the bill really doesn't matter to me too much since I'm in my college dorm and all that.
Fincham: Where are you going?
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Fincham: I meant where are you sitting. This wasn't an existential question.
2005-11-15, 1:58 PM #63
Originally posted by DSettahr:
I havent turned my personal computer on in nearly a week.


........what?! :eek:
"it is time to get a credit card to complete my financial independance" — Tibby, Aug. 2009
2005-11-15, 2:11 PM #64
(I would guess he hasn't turned it off either)
Fincham: Where are you going?
Me: I have no idea
Fincham: I meant where are you sitting. This wasn't an existential question.
2005-11-15, 2:14 PM #65
ahhhhhh... I gotcha.

clever.
"it is time to get a credit card to complete my financial independance" — Tibby, Aug. 2009
2005-11-15, 3:42 PM #66
Actually, I'm fairly sure he's serious. He probably has a laptop he uses from time to time, and his PC doesn't get much action. Can't blame him with his major, and what he does with most of his time. I'd never be at my computer either.
D E A T H
2005-11-15, 5:42 PM #67
Usually 24 / 7. It's only turned off in storms, and that's usually my dad being paranoid.
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2005-11-15, 5:46 PM #68
i turn the monitor off when i go to sleep...

however it was turned off for a while today during the worst part of the storms we were having
eat right, exercise, die anyway
2005-11-15, 7:15 PM #69
[QUOTE=Dj Yoshi]That seems EXTREMELY odd. I've never had problems even close to that unless I had a virus on XP. You using SP2?[/QUOTE]
Nope. SP1a. I never got the assurance I wanted that SP2 would work and not royally screw something up. .... Then again that's a risk with everything regardless of assurance. meh.
"In the beginning, the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move." - Douglas Adams
Are you finding Ling-Ling's head?
Last Stand
2005-11-15, 7:32 PM #70
It's worked for me. They fixed almost all the installation bugs (meaning I think they fixed them all, but won't attest to that).
D E A T H
2005-11-15, 7:37 PM #71
Some days i don't even turn it on :eek:
I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.
2005-11-16, 10:07 AM #72
I like to turn it off overnight and everything. It's probably more stress on it to start up over and over, but I doubt it's all that much.
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2005-11-16, 10:15 AM #73
Frankly, some computer techs tell me its good to shut it. Others tell me I should leave it on. Others tell me either way doesn't make a difference.

I started turning it off overnight and while I'm at work unless I'm downloading something or another. This isn't because I worry about the energy bill, or because I want to have a lasting computer. Its because I don't have a hardware firewall and don't feel like having my computer up as an easy catch if I don't use it.
Was cheated out of lions by happydud
Was cheated out of marriage by sugarless
2005-11-16, 10:16 AM #74
Haven't you guys all heard? If you turn on and off your computer too much, it might burn out the restarting coil!
Stuff
2005-11-16, 6:03 PM #75
All 5 machines in my dorm room run 24/7.
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2005-11-16, 6:13 PM #76
Bah... my computer just got a restart - I was adjusting the antenna and the center speaker fell off and hit the switch on the powerbar... and I missed the first couple minutes of "Lost". :mad:
Stuff
2005-11-16, 7:15 PM #77
Originally posted by kyle90:
Haven't you guys all heard? If you turn on and off your computer too much, it might burn out the restarting coil!


That's a common misconception.

As long as you keep the tank full of launcher fluid, you'll be fine.
2005-11-16, 9:28 PM #78
i turn it off when im not using it, just a habit i guess
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2005-11-16, 9:53 PM #79
Originally posted by Jepman:
Frankly, some computer techs tell me its good to shut it. Others tell me I should leave it on. Others tell me either way doesn't make a difference.

Most computer techs don't know the first thing about electronics or the components of a PC actually work. But the ones that tell you it doesn't make a difference are right.

Originally posted by JediKirby:
I can PROVE this in front of your eyes with a high powered AC reader [not one of those cheap ones]!

Any DMM with an AC ammeter will get you a good result. But you're right, PCs tend to be very efficient compared to other devices, such as incandescant light bulbs. Incandescant bulbs convert 99% of the electrical energy they use into heat, the rest is light. Or some other ridiculously high number anyway. Fluorescant lights are much more efficient, solid state (LED) lighting is far more efficient than that.
Bassoon, n. A brazen instrument into which a fool blows out his brains.
2005-11-17, 7:37 AM #80
About 80% is heat, the rest is light, but when you take into account only the visible spectrum, an incandescent light blub is ~6% efficient.
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