On or off

[badranman]

This is for all you computer geeks :rolleyes: out there. Is it okay to leave my computer on all the time or should I shut it off every night? Why or why not?

[2004F550]

Mine is always on and we leave computers on in the office all the time....so it must be ok becuase we wouldn't risk it with such important info on them........but im no expert

[Cat420]

It probably won't physically harm the computer to be on all the time (it will more than likely need to be replaced for performance reasons before anything wears out from being left on). There are certain things that "clean out", when you shutdown, so you may see a little performance decrease with no shutdowns, but nothing major.

[leadarrows]

Mine has to run all the time because I have it folding.

Folding@Home is a distributed computing project which studies protein folding, misfolding, aggregation, and related diseases. They use novel computational methods and large scale distributed computing, to simulate timescales thousands to millions of times longer than previously achieved. This has allowed them to simulate folding for the first time, and to now direct their approach to examine folding related disease.

How can you help? You can help their project by downloading and running their client software. Their algorithms are designed such that for every computer that joins the project, they get a commensurate increase in simulation speed
http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/folding/

I have one computer that has been folding for over a year with no problems.

[nobull1]

I run 24/7 with this computer for the last 3 years,no problems. Since 97 when I went on line I don't shut down. I've had probably 4 computers[or components of] and other than a fan or two never had a problem. I will shut down once in awhile just to do a cold reboot or to clean out the insides but not often. The biggest thing is to blow them out to keep the dust down as that will cause overheating problems. Sort of like the rad on the excavator :) I just cleaned mine out the other day and boy I will tell you don't do it indoors. It will amaze you how much dirt gets inside.

[CT18fireman]

We shut down the shop computer on the weekends, just to have one less thing pulling juice. The home computer stays on unless we go away for vacation or something.

You still have to shut down and reboot occassionally.

[badranman]

I was curious to know if having it on made it easier for viruses and/or hackers to get on your computer. I used to turn mine off but lately it stays on 24/7.

[Cat420]

It does increase the chances a little, but in general you usually only get viruses from downloading infected files. I'm not sure how many hackers care about getting on your computer, but they can't if it is off. I would turn my computer off to save electricity, but then again I stop to pick up every penny that I see.

[nobull1]

I was curious to know if having it on made it easier for viruses and/or hackers to get on your computer. I used to turn mine off but lately it stays on 24/7.

Here's what I do
1] zone alarm firewall...free
2] Norton anti virus .....pay
3] anti-spyware......free with INTERNET provider
4] burn a CD every month of the most important info bookmarks etc.Try to keep it under 700 megs so you only use one CD. Keep all important info under one main folder for simplicity.
5] enjoy and don't worry, worst case is a inconvenience to install some programs to get back on line.