03-31-2009, 09:03 PM
OnBendedKnee Wrote:I've always thought it was alright to simply leave your computer running 24/7. It's like a clock. I don't unplug/turn off my clock at night, why should I my computer?Some people think it's 'better' to leave a computer running all the time. However... from what I've learned in the computer industry, the components in a computer basically have a lifespan measured in so many 'hours'. The fan in your power supply, for example, the capacitors on your motherboard, pretty much everything really. The more you use up those 'hours', the sooner you're going to have to replace something. That especially holds true for laptops, because of the heat.
(Although possibly turning off the computer monitor is a good idea. . .)
On the software side, for those of us who are slaves to Bill (using Microsoft Windows in some version or another), Windows has a memory accumulation error that has never been fixed from the first version. The longer you leave the software running, the more memory gets 'dirty', causing the system to slow down and start having problems. It's better, in my opinion, to start fresh every time you go to use your computer.
Bottom line, no matter what kind of computer you have, it will last longer if it's only 'on' while it's being used (or just for a certain stretch every day).