Solved Question about leaving the Computer ON all the times!

[boogieboy]

Hi everyone i would like to know is it safe to keep the Computer running all the times (Power ON) ? i like leave my computer always on at nights when i download any big game off the steam that can take several hours depending on the size and my internet connection dont worry about the electrical surges and fluctuations i just like to know is it safe to keep the Computer running for days or even weeks?

Also i have turned the options to "Never" for Sleep Time in Power Plan and only the Monitor is only set to 10 mins.

 

[True Colors]

i just like to know is it safe to keep the Computer running for days or even weeks?

In my opinion there is not any major danger of leaving your computer on if you use a surge protector......... or better yet, if you use a UPS(uninterruptible power supply).

There are a few minor downsides.

1 - it will affect your computer performance. I have heard that memory leak can occur if you run your computer 24/7 without restarting it

2 - some of the windows updates/patches/etc require that you restart your computer. You won't get those if you do not ever turn your computer off

3 - the general wear and tear on your computer is increased. The moving parts that usually fail over time...... such as the power supply.... will go out sooner if your computer is on all the time

4 - your computer will collect more dust inside if it is on all the time. Especially if it is sitting on a carpet floor. I used to have a computer that I left on all the time and it sucked in a ton of dust

That is all that I can think of.

TC

 

[boogieboy]

3 - the general wear and tear on your computer is increased. The moving parts that usually fail over time...... such as the power supply.... will go out sooner if your computer is on all the time

Thanks for the reply TC I heard that some people say it increases the life of components such as HDD and overall it's better to keep it on but i wanna know more

 

[gregrocker]

It's up to personal preference, but worth considering that Power Options are perfected in Win7 so that you can walk away from whatever you're doing and in 30 minutes it sleeps - still instantly wakeable using the Enter key - then after 45 or so it will save whatever's on the desktop to the HD and shut down in a Hibernate state that starts back up much faster.

This saves power and wear on the computer, and saves whatever you're doing without even having to think about it whether you walk away for a minute or a week.

You only need to do a full Shut Down about as often as you notice Updates cued (!) on your Shut Down button - Or at the end of the day if you prefer.

 

[lhorwinkle]

I leave mine all the time ... my work laptop, my home desktop, and the old print server.
I don't worry about wear and tear. Every computer I've owned has lasted longer than its usefulness.

(Memory leaks? An errant program can leak memory. You can clear that by simply closing the offending program. No need to reboot!)

 

[seavixen32]

I don't bother with power plans and use Sleep during the day when I'm not using the computer, but always switch off at night unless I have a long download pending.

I agree with the point made on wear and tear as I rarely keep a computer more than three years and I invariably buy a new one when a new operating system is released (I'm just an old codger who's got nothing better to spend his money on! ).

 

[boogieboy]

Yes i do restart computer when it's needed but don't like to shutdown at nights and days when huge downloading is in progress i also change the hardware within 2 to 3 years.. thanks for the replies all more info and opinions are most welcome.

 

[Britton30]

I leave mine on all the time and switch off my monitor at night or if I'm away for several hours. I think no harm is done. Hard drives have a long life expectancy and you'd likely replace one for a bigger, badder, or empty one before failure caused by leaving it on. I do believe a PC benefits by a reboot or an occasional complete shut down so the OS can clean itself.

This applies to a desktop PC, I don't think a laptop is designed nor intended to be always on.

 

[boogieboy]

I leave mine on all the time and switch off my monitor at night or if I'm away for several hours. I think no harm is done. Hard drives have a long life expectancy and you'd likely replace one for a bigger, badder, or empty one before failure caused by leaving it on. I do believe a PC benefits by a reboot or an occasional complete shut down so the OS can clean itself.

This applies to a desktop PC, I don't think a laptop is designed nor intended to be always on.

What about your Power Plan ? did you set the Sleep Mode to Never as well?

 

[essenbe]

I set my power plan to never sleep and the monitor to sleep in 30 minutes of inactivity. I leave mine running almost 24 hours. I usually replace parts before they wear out. I do an occasional restart if needed.

 

[ambriel]

I have several desktop PCs in the office and they are very rarely turned off.

The only hard drive failures I've suffered in the last five or more years have been with the laptop which, naturally, does get turned off when I transport it.

 

[boogieboy]

So it seems that it's safe to keep the PC running and set the power sleep mode to "never" thank you guys for being very helpful.. but more advise and opinions are welcome

 

[Britton30]

I have Sleep set to Never and I have hibernate disabled.

 

[boogieboy]

I have Sleep set to Never and I have hibernate disabled.

i did same for my too and idk but i dont like the sleep mode on desktop's

 

[bigmck]

I have mine set to Never on the sleep mode and leave it on all the time except for maybe a reboot once a week. I have my monitor set to turn off after 20 minutes. I leave it on because of convenience and because I do my backups at night. I have never had a problem doing this.