Leave your gonk on or off?

msdunkel · Nov 10, 2008

I guess it's kind of a poll/question. Is there any value in leaving my Vista machine always on, or is system stability better if I restart it every day? I've been shutting the computer down every night before I go to sleep for energy conservation as opposed to Vista health, just curious if it really matters. I have no idea if I've actually saved any money, but I figure even if I only save 25 cents a night that's almost a hundred bucks at the end of the year (550W PSU).

.Joe · Nov 10, 2008

msdunkel said:
I guess it's kind of a poll/question. Is there any value in leaving my Vista machine always on, or is system stability better if I restart it every day? I've been shutting the computer down every night before I go to sleep for energy conservation as opposed to Vista health, just curious if it really matters. I have no idea if I've actually saved any money, but I figure even if I only save 25 cents a night that's almost a hundred bucks at the end of the year (550W PSU).

I leave mine on (it does maintenance overnight). I restart every few days, as it seems my used memory gets bigger even without any apps running.

Chappy · Nov 10, 2008

I shut mine off anytime I'm not using it for awhile as this releases any unreleased memory and makes Vista run much smoother IMO.

The reason people left their machines on 24/7 in the old days was because hardware at that time had a very limited number of cycles it could be turned on and off, like maybe 500 at the most before failure. Nowadays hardware can cycle 50,000 plus times easily so the old reason is no longer valid as you'll never hit the cycle ceiling in the machines lifetime.
People also seem to think it's a "Status symbol" of some sort to be able to keep your Windows install booted for as long as humanly possible...I simply don't get that one myself. I prefer to save power as keeping a modern machine on is similar to keeping 3 or 4 100W lights burning 24/7 and that adds up to allot of unnecessary power usage.

Restarting refreshes everything and that can only be helpful...right. Like what's the first thing a person should do when they're having issues?? Restart so drivers can reload again and problems may go away, so restarting is a Good thing IMHO.

Cyberwolf · Nov 11, 2008

I leave mine on 24/7. Primarily because I'm lending my CPU cycles to distributed computing projects.

I consider myself to be a power user, and I've actually never experienced any ill effects performance wise by leaving it on consistantly. I've had it up for over 60 days straight, no reboots and things were still smooth. I figure anyone who's having issues is either using older hardware OR has too much clutter / improper drivers loaded.

Dzomlija · Nov 11, 2008

Prometheus only gets turned off when there is bad weather (I lost Venus to a lightning EMP in March and learned my lesson the hard way). Other than that, she remains on 24/7, with perhaps a restart sequence every couple of days....

swarfega · Nov 11, 2008

I leave mine on but thats mainly due to folding@home so its a good cause :D

Joan Archer · Nov 11, 2008

All mine are turned off each night, electricity is expensive enough without having machines running overnight that aren't being used. There is also the possible chance that they could develop some fault and cause a fire, and you never know when there's going to be a storm so I'm not taking the chance off my machines getting caught out in the night. :D

mansrm81 · Nov 11, 2008

I leave mine on and only restart when there is a windows update or avast program updates and asks for a restart.

bruce2 · Nov 11, 2008

Mine sleeps at night.

Bare Foot Kid · Nov 11, 2008

bruce2 said:
Mine sleeps at night.

Ditto....

Later

Ted

Clintonio · Nov 11, 2008

I only leave my system on when I won't be away for more than an hour or two. So when sleeping or in class I won't leave either my laptop or PC on. Mostly for power saving reasons.

In terms of performance it's unlikely to have negative side effects that you'll notice.

Day24 · Nov 11, 2008

I leave mine on, even though I know it would save me a lot of money if I turn it off for the hours I'm not home (about 50 euro's per year), which in turn would be better for the environment.....

I just forget to turn it off at night, to be honest... besides....I really like that I only have to turn on the screen in the mornings....

roy69 · Nov 12, 2008

I turn mine off overnight. If I am going to leave it during the day it goes into sleep mode.

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