ON or OFF when not in use. Which is good...or bad?

The internet has many articles on the merit and demerit of keeping laptop on always...and I still cannot figure out which is good or bad: ON or OFF when not in use.

Please explain why either way.

First,
Today it makes no difference as far as the computer is concerned. When the internet was still new, it was suggested that you leave it on to reduce wear on the hard drive, today this is not that much of a concern.
I, personnly, turn the computer off at night because;
Do not want the computer on in a thunder storm
If you do have a virus, the virus often makes its changes at night, when most are asleep and will not realize
Save Electericity.
I am sure others will come by to disagree with my analyis, but that is just because, it does not really make a difference, today.

Hello Pappi,

There's not a right or wrong answer to leave the laptop on or off when not in use. This is more of just a personal choice and what works best for your needs and wants.

Shutting down or hibernate the laptop would help you to save more battery time and electricity. These would also be good options when you are not going to be using the laptop for a while.

Leaving the laptop always on or using sleep would of course allow you to always have instant access when needed. If you are on battery and not plugged in, then these options will drain the battery faster. You would also not want to have the laptop in a bag or case while using these options since it could cause the laptop to over heat.

Hope this helps some,
Shawn

Thanks guys for such simple and clear intelligent answers I can identify with to know better what to do with my laptop.

My youngest source(6 yr old) told me ...."grandpa, it's like TV, Mom does not like it on when nobody is watching."

But is it really like TV? Is there a downside for turning on and off, OFF... say, at bedtime when done with it and then ON ... say, first thing in the following morning and then OFF again when done (before going to work), and then ON again 8 t0 10 hours later(after work).

Practicality aside(why turn it off if it's going to be used again within, say 2 hours), is there anything inherently good...or bad with cold boots? Like internet's articles allude to: (1) hardrive wear and memory "leak"/loss(for bad) and (2)memory gain and some system processes "adjustments"(for good).

Can anyone say it's perfectly harmless to use laptop like TV: ON when in use and OFF when not in use...regardless of time intervals, if only to not waste energy(electricity).

I have read and truly believe, that today's computers do experience some very minor wear and tear when booted. The loss is so minimal, that you will want a new computer before you must replace it due to the additional wear.

BTW, although not asked, you must boot up occasionally, for optimal service from the computer.

Pappi,

Sure, if you're going to be turning it off and on every so often in a short time period, then it can cause more wear and tear on a HDD as spins up and down more often. If you have a SSD instead of HDD, then this will not be an issue since a SSD drive is only memory chips and not a spinning platter like a HDD. Either way, unless you're turning it off and on say every 20 minutes or so, it's not going to hurt anything.

The way I do it is to have the laptop go into sleep mode while plugged in when I'm using it off an on throughout the day. This saves energy and opens Windows right back to where I left off instantly.

If I'm not going to be on it for any extended time (ex: while sleeping, or several hours). I shut down to power it off. If you like, you could also hibernate instead.

Over all it's not going to hurt it to turn it off and on other than the wear and tear if you do so often instead of just when not using it for an extended time frame. It's just a personal choice for what fits your needs.

Thanks Rich and Shawn...looks like I've been doing it pretty much like you guys.

I tend to close the lid which is programmed to sleep, when done(mainly to not keep monitor delicate screen exposed) during the day (sometimes even at bedtime) and turn it off if I do not or will not use it in more than 12 hours(truthfully, for no technical reason). I never intentionally leave browser page on in sleep mode. I always turn off everything before shutting down. Sometimes, I can sense some degree of "freshness" after a cold boot(as opposed to waking up from sleep).

One internet article author has an interesting view: after prolonged use, especially with heavy duty functions like downloading or videos, laptop internal components can heat up; and shutting it off right after such heavy usage also turns off and inactivates the fans which may contribute to heat entrapment and slow prolonged cooling off process. But he did not offer any suggestion as alternative to immediate shut down....like maybe turn it off a few minutes(as opposed to right away) after heavy/prolonged usage.

I can tell you to wait 10 seconds before you reboot. If you do it too soon, you will damage hard drive.

OMG! i never thought of that. I cold boot instantly after power button turning off from freezing(which is a recent issue...I've been experiencing freezing when watching...often when fast forwarding... some online vids).

Thanks Rich. From now on I'll take a trip to the fridge or BR before re-booting.

I appreciate your kind words. Here is one last tip. Certain hard drive problems can be corrected by a chk dsk. Follow instructions and be sure to check both boxes, as shown in the tutorial.
It will take a couple of hours.
Disk Check - Windows 7 Help Forums
This great tutorial is equally valuable for Vista. Thanks to Brink for his hard work on this tutorial.

For years I've been periodically doing both (one after another...each one requiring re-boot) (1)OEM disk check for errors and scanning and attempt to recovery of bad sectors(which takes hours), and (2) command prompt... sfc /scannow(which takes many minutes, about an hour), before doing disk defrag.

And I have no clue whether or not I am being redundant. Are they the same?

You caused no damage, but best to do both at once, for time if nothing else.

Laptops have more issues with heat cycling more than desktops primarily due to their size. 90% of video card breakage is typically the solder joints on the cards breaking.
Laptops get nearly twice as hot as desktops and the heat/cooling cycle eventually cracks joints.

My desktop computers rarely get rebooted, I do folding at home and as such they'll constantly run 100% load 24/7, and have so for years.

So as you have read, it's purely your preference.