Is it ok to leave your computer on all the time?
146816
Its ok, but why?\n\nA PC has some moving parts that are going to eventually wear out with use.  Power supply, fans, hard drive motors etc...the more they are used the quicker they are going to need to be replaced.\n\nI typically tell my clients that if they dont need to use the computer for the next 8 hours to turn it off and start it up when they need it.  You have to wait during the boot up but thats not that bad.\n\nIf you're on and off the PC all the time, then I suggest setting your power saving settings to put the system in stand-by after about 30 minutes of inactivity.  Spin the hard drives down, turn most components off or to a power saving mode, then when you need it, the PC comes out of wake state in a few seconds.
966535
when you know you will come back to your computer in the same day then you can put it in stand by. The less you keep turning on and off your computer the better. It puts a strain on your hard drive if you do that a lot of times a day. So stand by is the best you can go.
480593
It's always safe to turn your laptop off. But you should install anti-spyware as soon as possible.\n\nHere are 2 good programs, all free:\n\nAdaware: get this at www.lavasoft.com. You can use it to scan your laptop whenever you suspect you have spyware on it, and it will eliminate alot of pests.\n\nSpyware Blaster: get it at www.javacoolsoftware.com.  It protects your PC from getting alot of spyware loaded onto it. \n\nIt's also good to have a strong antivirus program on your PC. If you don't have one already and want a free one, get AVG from www.grisoft.com.
906475
lets just say u dont do it...y do u want to anyways? make ur computer go to sleep, its basiclly the same but u dont loss anything
904710
Your disk should stay"on" as long as there is activity e.g. a download. When you are downloading, data is being written to the disk, thus keeping it active and awake....
975662
if what you want is to do is, to download music, videos or whatever at nite and go to sleep without stay awake waiting, like I do, just set your power saving settings to the appropiate value: "system standby: never", "hard disk power off: never" "screen power off: 5 minutes" (or whatever you want), keep the laptop connected to an AC outlet and that is it.\n\non the other hand, if what you want is download things at school while in class for example, well, that is more difficult, because some laptops allow you to stay on while closed, but most just send you to standby as soon as you close it and NO, you cannot stay connected while the computer is on standby, not a laptop not a desktop (unless you use a "wake-on-lan" NICon such desktop, but normally that is used when that pc is to be used as a file-server)
790650
Yes. Assuming you have a PC: Go to your Control Panel and open Power Options. You can change the settings for your sytem's stand-by and hibernate options, or turn them off completely.
1146817
This is one of those questions where there is no single right answer. In other words, it depends on how you use your computer. \n\nThere are at least three situations that force you to leave your computer on 24 hours a day: \n\nYou are on a network, and the network administrators back up files and/or upgrade software over the network at night. If that is the case, and you want your machine backed up or upgraded, then you need to leave it on all the time. \n\nYou are using your machine as some sort of server. For example, HowStuffWorks has a machine that creates the images for the How Webcams Work article. It needs to be on 24 hours a day. If your machine acts as a file server, print server, Web server, etc., on a LAN (local area network) or the Internet, then you need to leave it on all the time. \n\nIf you are running something like SETI@home and you want to produce as many result sets as possible, you need to leave your machine on all the time. \nIf you do not fall into any of these categories, then you have a choice about whether or not to leave your machine on. \nOne reason why you might want to turn it off is economic. A typical PC consumes something like 300 watts. Let's assume that you use your PC for four hours every day, so the other 20 hours it is on would be wasted energy. If electricity costs 10 cents per kilowatt-hour in your area, then that 20 hours represents 60 cents a day. Sixty cents a day adds up to $219 per year. \n\nIt's possible to use the energy-saving features build into modern machines and cut that figure in half. For example, you can have the monitor and hard disk power down automatically when not in use. You'll still be wasting $100 per year. \n\nThe argument for leaving your computer on all the time is that turning it on and off somehow stresses the computer's components. For example, when the CPU chip is running, it can get quite hot, and when you turn the machine off it cools back down. The expansion and contraction from the heat probably has some effect on the solder joints holding the chip in place, and on the micro-fine details on the chip itself. But here are three ways to look at that: \n\nIf it were a significant problem, then machines would be failing all the time. In fact, hardware is very reliable (software is a whole different story, and there is a lot to be said for rebooting every day). \nI don't know a single person who leaves the TV on 24 hours a day. TVs contain many of the same components that computers do. TVs certainly have no problems being cycled on and off. \nMost vendors will sell you a three-year full-replacement warrantee for about $150. If you are worried about it, spend some of the money you are saving by turning your machine off and buy a service contract. Over three years, you come out way ahead!
336812
Hold the power button until the computer turns off
497407
Off of coure is it's for hours but for short piorod's of time it wont hurt to leave it on. But even you computer needs it's sleep some times it will help it! Just like sleep hepls you! Plus you save on your power bill!
220801
No if the PC is off no programs can be active.But you can set a program to start when the computer starts if you want to automate tasks while away from the compurer.
930212
Personally I think you should turn it off, if your not going to need it say overnight, as doesn't take much to boot up again in Morning....cheers
764830
turn off your computer
1089761
Very little cost.  :)   Computers use very little power, and electrical power is cheap.  If you left your computer on 24 hours a day, you're probably using roughly 10 cents of electricity in a day.  Turning it on and off is hard on the hard drive.  Good rule of thumb is to turn it on when you go to use it, and leave it on the remainder of the day until you're done with it for the day.  You can turn on and off the screen, that'll increase your screen life.  But turning it on and off a lot puts stress on the hard drive.  Mostly leave it on once it's on.
62437
depends on how much you use your pc.. if you use your computer throughout the day, keep it on all day and turn it off at night.\n\nTry this-\nscreen saver on after 15 minutes of inactivity.\nstandby after 30 minutes of inactivity\nhard drive off after 45 minutes of inactivity
193464
Leaving it on all the time makes the hardware last longer. Sure, it uses more power but it's cheaper than replacing your hard drive and fans every few years.\n\nAnd in response to the lightning thing... if your house gets hit by lightning, it won't matter if your computer is on or off, lightning will still fry it. Surge protectors won't help in that case either.  The only way you can protect your computer from a lightning strike nearby is to unplug it from all the cables.
894499
won't hurt the laptop, but will mess up your operating system (the program) because it takes a few seconds for the operating system to do "house keeping" and shut down programs in the right order and save inportant info.