Computer poll

[Timmy8271]

Ever since I got DSL, I have been downloading a lot of shit. I usually leave my computer on all night. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Do you do the same thing?

[Guest Princess Leena]

It won't hurt leaving your computer on, other than a slight increase in your electric bill, and possible slight performance issues if you use a ton of programs and don't shut down for a few days.

 

If you're downloading, then don't worry about it.

[tominator89]

I leave it online when I have large files that I'm downloading. But, I'm sure to give it a rest every 48 hours or so.

[CanadianChris]

I always leave it on. I don't see any point in turning it off just because it's a certain time of day. I do a reboot when the computer starts getting sluggish, usually after a week or two.

[Youth N Asia]

I leave mine on, mostly to download unethicly. But I'll shut it off every couple of days and let it sit a bit, dunno if it needs it or not, but that's what I do

[Black Lushus]

IT guys have told me that shutting down every so often is good enough. I let mine run a couple of days and then give it a shut down for an hour or so. Usually I'll notice the sluggishness, that's the sign....otherwise, it stays on until it reaches that point.

[tominator89]

It is definitely good to shut down for a little while. It helps prevent the fan/power supply from burning out and it clears up the items in memory.

[World's Worst Man]

I think I've only shut down my computer for the night once in the last 3 years. I do shut it down from time to time though, usually during thunderstorms.

[Guest Princess Leena]

I used to never shut down, because older hard drives would lose their life span if you kept restarting. That's not the case anymore.

 

Unless I'm downloading during the night, I'll shut down. Plus, your mindset changes when you're the one paying the bill.

[Black Lushus]

you know, honestly, computers I've had have never really impacted my energy bill...could just be my area, I don't know...the thing that really drives an energy bill is air conditioning...not lights, not electronics, it's air conditioning. But again, that could be different in other areas.

[muzz]

I've become accustomed to turning it off of a night since I came home from work one night and smelt something smoldering. Turns out it was my power supply. Probably had little to do with leaving it on constantly, but I'm paranoid like that.

[Guest Princess Leena]

Computers take little amounts of energy... we're talking pennies per night if you leave it on, compared to the energy it takes restarting your computer every day. But, they're MY pennies. If you leave your monitor on, then it would get to be more significant.

[Red Baron]

I shut it down from time to time, but I leave it on in the middle of the night. My anti-virus and ad-aware programs run nightly during the middle of the night.

[Chunk]

One of mine is almost always on.

[skullman80]

I think my PC has been shut down a grand total of 5 hours in the past 3 or 4 years.

[CanadianGuitarist]

I always leave it on. I don't see any point in turning it off just because it's a certain time of day. I do a reboot when the computer starts getting sluggish, usually after a week or two.

[treble]

I usually just turn it off when I'm at work.

[El Gigante]

I will usually turn mine off at night unless I am in the process of downloading something.

[Timmy8271]

Update:

 

The day after thanksgiving, my computer died on me. I went to bed and left it on. When i woke up, it was dead. The power light kept flashing. I took it to best buy and got it back today. Had to have a whole new motherboard and power suply put in. But my hard drive was still good. I think it had something to do with running Limewire and bit torrent at the same time.

[Adam]

I don't turn my Laptop off anymore, because its completely screwed. When I am forced to turn it off, I have to physically bash the shit out of it for it to work. $1400 laptop, $800 to get a new motherboard. Fuck that noise, I'll just get a new machine with an extended warranty.