My laptop is running ok but starting really slow. I have two sticks of RAM in it, one 512 and one 256. I have ordered another 512, maybe the mismatch is slowing it. Also, and I don't know if this matters, I have the drive partitioned with the smaller part for the OS and programs.
If I just leave the laptop on all the time it will obviously solve the slow startup problem but would that be bad for the laptop because of constant heat. Some people say a computer will last forever if it is never turned off. Currently I do leave my desktop on all the time and I leave the HDs running all the time... do you have an opinion about this? Should I be letting the HDs sleep or would that defeat the purpose of leaving the computer running?

Thanks,

Julien

You will find arguments on both sides about this - but for the record I leave my PCs on 24/7/365.

My thoughts are based on 35+ plus years as an electronics technician, for whatever that's worth - plus a fairly good understanding of physics.

Physics says that matter expands as it heats up and contracts as it cools. Different materials expand and contract at different rates. In large items, like a car engine, you hear the expansion/contraction of bonded (bolted together in the case of the engine) materials when the engine pops and cracks as it cools. Solid state devices are also made up of different materials bonded together. Over time and many expansion/contraction cycles, micro-fractures are formed in the materials, often at the bonded junctures - this "fatigue" can eventually cause the devices to age prematurely and fail.

By keeping a system on 24/7, the operating environment is kept relatively constant and so there is no expansion/contraction cycles.

Also, every time you power on electronic equipment, there is a power surge through the circuits until everything stabilizes. The more sophisticated equipment is designed so these surges are handled. Nevertheless, the regulator circuits are tasked hard during those first few milliseconds. One problem here is the $10 no-name generic power supplies, often made in child slave labor camps in remote locational in China, or the like. Can they handle the repeated stress?

That said, keeping a PC up and running 24/7 is like keeping a couple 100W light bulbs burning all the time in an unused room. That does waste electricity, and considerable amount of heat is exhausted out into the room, which places a greater demand on the facility cooling requirements.

So, will your computer last longer if you never turn it off (except once a month to clean out all the dust inside)? Yes! In most cases, running electronics in a consistent operating environment will prolong the life of the electronics. This assumes the PC case provides good, consistent, cooling and ventilation.

However, the additional costs in electricity usually offsets any savings.

To justify leaving them on 24/7, I schedule anti-malware scans and backups to run at night. Also, when the systems are idle, they run distributed computing projects, such as Folding@Home and BOINC - where they map DNA, research cures for diseases, and of course, search for ET!

For those that do not want to leave them on 24/7, but they use their computer everyday, I recommend turning it on in the morning, then turn it off at the end of the day. Do not turn it on and off several times a day.

Remember that PCs are designed to run 24/7/365. This is because the makers must assume that the motherboards, RAM, AND hard drives will be used in file servers for "mission critical" applications. Hard drives can and do run continually for 5 years straight and longer. Some are warrantied for 5 years too.

Laptops are a different story. Despite what the makers tell you, they are NOT desktop substitutes. They are not designed for 24/7 operation and should not be left on 24/7. Does that affect the life span of the components? Probably, but oh well. Everything about laptops is more expensive. Laptops, by their very nature of being compact, provide poor cooling for the enclosed electronics. And since heat is the bane of all electronics, they should not be left on for extended periods of time. Also, since weight is a burden to the road warrior, the laptop power supplies tend to be the minimum needed to run the laptop - meaning the laptop power supply and regulator circuits are ALWAYS taxed. Whereas the desktop PSU, even the cheap ones, at least have a cooling fan to help ease the burden.

Too many people worry about slow boot times. It does take a long time to load up a sophisticated operating system, custom drivers for the graphics, networking, and then all the necessary (thanks to bad guys) security applications, including the firewall and anti-malware applications. My computer consistently takes just over 4 minutes to boot from an off state, and over 4 1/2 minutes to reboot. That time can be extended by Windows and security application updates and configuration changes that must be done during boot up. Also, many disk cleaning tasks, including those from running CCleaner, ATF, and Windows Disk Cleanup, can only be completed during a boot, so boot times can be extended after running them.

If you are taking more than 5 minutes, you might look at removing some items from the startup process.

(except once a month to clean out all the dust inside)

Opps... I just opened my desktop yesterday to add a firewire PCI card and to add RAM. (I just got Sonar 7 PE)
I noticed all the dust and got most of it out, I couldn't find my canned air. I will open it up again and clean it better. I never think of that. I am not sure how to open my laptop, it is an older Dell Inspirion 5100, i'll figure it out and get it done.

Folding@Home and BOINC

I'll check into that, it sounds like a good thing. It reminds me of what i was reading about recently, the new internet that is coming, the 'GRID".

I have not timed it but I think I am around the 4 minute mark at startup, so I guess it's ok.

Thank you for the help!

Julien

That's just another problem with laptops - they cannot be cleaned by the typical laptop user.