pc on or off

Hello I was just reading that the most commonly asked question is, "Should I turn my pc off when done?" The response I read is that you should trun it off if you are going to be off for an hour or more. My wife and I are always using the pcs during the day and with this new school of thought, are confused as to what to do. We leave them sleeping when not in use, but only turn off at night. What do you think is the most prudent way of doing this? Thank you

There are several schools of thought on this - mine is old school and that says that electronics last longer if operated in a stable environment - and that generally means on all the time to minimize the number of heat-up and cool-down cycles. That can be significant because by the Laws of Physics, most matter expands as it gets hot, and contracts when it cools. This is evident in a car engine when it pops and cracks right after you turn it off. They pop and crack when you first start them too, but there is too much other noise to hear it. Now in a massive hunk of metal like a car engine, those don't matter, but when you have 100s of millions - even billions of transistors sitting in a spot the size of a postage stamp, those pops and cracks can lead to microfractures that are the size of the Grand Canyon - relatively speaking. And that can affect the aging of the components. Now whether that results in the longer life of your computer, that's still under debate. For the record, I never turn mine off - unless I am doing maintenance. But your practice of turning them on in the morning, leaving them on and letting them sleep throughout the day, then off at night is a perfect compromise - though if me, I would just let them sleep through the night too. Remember - the computer makers do not know how you will be using your computer. Therefore, they have to assume it might be in a server or special purpose machine that MUST be on 24/7/365. So they are designed to do that - as long as heat-trapping dust is not allowed to build up.

Your explanation is very informative and I am sure many people will benefit from reading it. I also am glad that we have met a compromise - it was by luck. I was reading about the way techs can coordinate their clocks etc regarding heat as they were saying heat is the biggest enemy. Although some undertsand physics, I appreciate the fact that their interpretation helps me make a decision. We thank you.

To be safe, I do it both ways My Webserver is on 24x7x365 and seldom has a monitor connected to it. My Desktop I turn on when I want to use it in the morning and don't turn it off until I'm done with it at night. I do turn the monitor off when not in use though, more through habit than necessity. Having the power settings turn the monitor off after a set time would be as as good or better method probably.

as they were saying heat is the biggest enemy.

As noted in my signature, heat is the bane of all electronics. But you also need to remember that when idle or asleep, your computer is wasting very little energy in the form of heat. So heat when idle or asleep is not a problem - assuming a blanket of heat-trapping dust has not coated everything.

my standard answer to this question. it's one of those questions where there is no right or wrong answer, turn it off if you want, leave it on if you want. both have advantages and disadvantages and neither outweigh the other in the long run(unless your turning it off and on numerous times a day and in that case i say leave it on and turn off at night), in my honest opinion. i have 2 pc's one stays on 24/7 other gets turned off.

To be safe, I do it both ways

My Webserver is on 24x7x365 and seldom has a monitor connected to it.
My Desktop I turn on when I want to use it in the morning and don't turn it off until I'm done with it at night.

I do turn the monitor off when not in use though, more through habit than necessity. Having the power settings turn the monitor off after a set time would be as as good or better method probably.

>>R. Do you use your power settings to turn the display off after x time and put it to sleep after x time?
I turn the montior off after ten minutes and to sleep after 15 because I won't be back, usually, for an hour or so.
I think this runs cooler than 'on' and I don't have to boot up one of the 10 or so times I return to use it until bed when it goes off.
P.S. I see the beta is up to 9 and the video is coming soon - I also notice you are still helping? The letter seems to be the tweak rught now.
!! Will you use it when it is out along with system restore and Acronis or use erunt in its place?
P

I turn off the display after 15 minutes. Don't use sleep at all.

On my PC, my monitors go to sleep in 15 minutes, and the computer goes into "hybrid" mode at 20. While hybrid may use a couple more watts than true hibernate or shutdown mode, my ATX PSU is cranking out the required +5Vsb standby voltage anyway - a couple more watts to keep the RAM alive is not going to matter. The time savings when I return to my "session" are well worth it to me.

On my PC, my monitors go to sleep in 15 minutes, and the computer goes into "hybrid" mode at 20. While hybrid may use a couple more watts than true hibernate or shutdown mode, my ATX PSU is cranking out the required +5Vsb standby voltage anyway - a couple more watts to keep the RAM alive is not going to matter. The time savings when I return to my "session" are well worth it to me.

>So hybrid allows you to keep working where you left off as opposed to sleep which does not?

So hybrid allows you to keep working where you left off as opposed to sleep which does not?

It allows you to get back to work faster but the biggest advantage is hybrid ALSO saves all your files so if you have a power outage during hybrid sleep, you lose nothing. In normal sleep, any open files will be lost. In hibernation, you lose nothing, it takes longer to resume your session.

So hybrid allows you to keep working where you left off as opposed to sleep which does not?

It allows you to get back to work faster but the biggest advantage is hybrid ALSO saves all your files so if you have a power outage during hybrid sleep, you lose nothing. In normal sleep, any open files will be lost. In hibernation, you lose nothing, it takes longer to resume your session.

>I understand and this contributes to my decision making; I'm sure others who are reading this thread will benefit also.
Thank you