Is it safe to leave your computer on all night and through the day?
397537
yea it should be ok as long as it doesnt get hot cause it could burn up.
1115039
I would only visit the sites I am 100% sure are safe. Other than that, turn your computer off.
134849
On LapTops definitely turn it off, it will wear down the battery. On desktops I will turn it off, if your not gonna use it within six hours. The reason for this is I find I have to replace more fans on computer used 24 hours than on the ones that are shut down everynight. If your cpu fan burns out while no one is using the computer, your cpu can burnout as well, costing a bit.
778893
just leave it on.\n\nthat's my answer.  but you do have to edit your power preferences so your computer doesn't turn off after 2 hours of non use.  other than that, I don't know.
922057
Best to turn off for a number of reasons.\n\nSave electricity\nProlong life of components within the computer\nCertain items will need refreshing which is done during reboot\n\nI'm in charge of a PVC mixing plant, the control PC's that handle large amounts of information the automated operations are on most of the time because they are needed for production.  With time they slow down until a point comes where it is unbearably slow and the operator decides to reboot, which resolves the problem.\n\nMore chance for hackers to gain access if you are connected to net.\n\nWithin my company all non productive computers must be switched off since if left on and unattended they can be fire hazards\n\netc etc
950135
*GriN* YES!!! Leave your computer tied up all night to the largest source of hackers in the world while you sleep peacefully!!!...\n\nI personally turn my computer OFF (or disconnect it from the Internet) when I am not sitting at it to do something...\n\nANY time your computer is tied into the Internet it is vulnerable to attack by hackers, and the longer it is there, the more time they have to find it...\n\nFirewalls help but are not totally foolproof protection...\n\nI personally would not leave a computer tied to the Internet 24/7 unless I had NO sensitive information on it and I had all of the work/software backed up for easy recovery...\n\nI also keep a recovery disk handy for the computer I do have tied into the Internet the most.
804522
its a way for your computer to save energy while its not in use.
1093323
Yes and no.  Speaking generally, the moving parts and power supply in your computer (fans and hard drive motors) suffer from being run constantly.  The electronic components suffer from voltage spikes when being powered on and off.  Many people argue that leaving the computer on constantly makes more sense; it's easier and cheaper to replace a fan motor than it is to replace a motherboard. \n\nTechnical considerations aside, leaving you computer running 24/7 will not do any serious harm to your system.  Neither will shutting it on and off once or twice a day.  Rebooting several times a day, every day, may have a measurable effect on your computer's lifespan, but it will probably make no practical difference.  It's much more likely that your computer will be obsolete before components actually start wearing out.\n\nThe overheating argument is moot.  You computer should NEVER overheat.  If it does, you need to fix your overheating problem, not ignore it by rebooting constantly.\n\nOne important thing to consider: Windows XP has an inherent memory leak.  It constantly writes to the cache while it's running.  Over time, this sucks up RAM resources, and makes your computer run more slowly.  This problem is less noticeable with high RAM machines, but most computers running XP will have a noticeable loss of system performace if left running for a week or more.  Unless you have special software for configuring your system cache (available on the internet), the only way to clear the cache and reset your memory is to restart the machine.
450986
Pretty much a catch 22 question.  The answer really relies on how much use during the day when it's left on.  Turning the computer on and off numerous times throughout the day will wear on certain parts of the computer while leaving it on constantly will wear on other parts of the computer.  If the computer is used constantly throughout the day I would leave it on and ensure that it is properly cooled.  If it may only be turned on once or twice a day I would shut it off.  Hope this helps.
524276
most website servers are never turned off... Its okay...\n\nexcept for the electricity.
484256
Yes because sometimes lighting can get through the electric lines and damage your PC if the building does not have proper "earthing".  Safer still, after turning off the computer, remove the plug from the socket too. Replug only after the storm has gone
898329
Doubtful--btw, "night worker"  weren't you lookin to get some sleep?  Won't happen in front of the PC.  Yawn, stretch....
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!
40304
Depends on how long ur gonna leave it 'idle' for, if its for more than 5 hours, turn it off (eg over night) any less and i'd say let the screen saver run.\n\nOr better yet, use the hibernation option :D It saves all work on ur pc in temp memory than shutsdown, once restarted it opens all the programs that were open previously :D
1039508
I leave mine on all the time and the dell guy told me to turn it off a couple of hours a day.\n\nMake sure you have a screen saver that moves or something because if the screen sits to long it can burn the image into your monitor
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
590262
You should be ok if you have it on a hard surface like a desk or table. \n\nIf you have it on the floor, or couch, or table with tablecloth, it may overheat due to the fan being blocked by the fabric.  Overheating is bad as it can kill the motherboard and/or drive and you would have an expensive paperweight.\n\nLeaving a computer on is supposed to be good for it since booting from the off state over and over adds wear and tear to the system.  I have a PC that I power off every night, and a work laptop that gets shut down once or twice a day, both work fine.  I haven't rebooted my mac in over a month and it too works fine.