Computer CPU operation

[hemi68charger]

Hey gang..
I was just curious, should I leave my personal desktop PC running all the time instead of turning it off nightly? The PC's we have here at work are a mixture of Linux and Windows workstations. Some have the Linux, some have the windows. The machines are left running 24/7. I haven't noticed any ill-effects of doing that.

If it's ok just to leave them running, is there regular hardware maintenance? i.e fan motor cleaning, etc.

Also, should I utilize the "sleep" mode instead of during it off?

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

I leave mine on all the time....4+ years & so far no problems.....we leave ours on at work as well 

[elacruze]

Most electronic failures happen on power-up, so critical systems are typically left powered on always.

[bakerhillpins]

This discussion is just like the winterization discussions, everyone has their preferred method. I typically set mine up so that they "hibernate" when the lid is closed and every time I leave I just shut the lid. Never any issues... Win7/Vista/XP machines. (hibernate writes the current session to the HD and powers down)

Turn off the office PC everyday and have been doing that for 20 plus yrs with out a failure. Typically the PC is beyond its useful life before it croaks, at least for me.

Only problem I have ever had included wife's laptop and my son with a big cup of grape juice... HDs don't spin to well in grape juice. 

[A383Wing]

from what I heard, the constant power up & down (hot & cool down) is what's hard on the electronics....

[Fred]

I'm one for switching everything off at the end of the day.

[Troy]

I almost never shut anything down. I actually get really ticked when Windows decides it needs to restart itself to apply an update. The old operating systems and software often had "memory leaks" and the system would slow down over time so rebooting often would take care of that. It's not an issue these days. I do use hibernate to cut the energy consumption at home but my hard drives are already "green" and the biggest power hog is my monitor so I probably wouldn't see much difference if I just used the timer to shut it off.

Troy

[hemi68charger]

I almost never shut anything down. I actually get really ticked when Windows decides it needs to restart itself to apply an update. The old operating systems and software often had "memory leaks" and the system would slow down over time so rebooting often would take care of that. It's not an issue these days. I do use hibernate to cut the energy consumption at home but my hard drives are already "green" and the biggest power hog is my monitor so I probably wouldn't see much difference if I just used the timer to shut it off.

Troy

Troy,
Is this the "sleep" option in Vista? I'm starting to get a problem now. For no apparent reason and totally random during the day, the machine seems to be locked up. What I mean is the light(s) on the keyboard (usually just one on, the Num_Lock) go off and my screen is blank. I can't reactivate the screen with the movement of the mouse and/or striking a key. The CPU on/off button is still lite, but nothing's happening. I usually have to push the button down for 5 seconds to force shutdown. It's 

[Todd Wilson]

Generally leaving a computer on is better for it.  I have been involved in computers since the early days. Ran a BBS system back in the day before internet. I think the newer machines of today are better at handling the on/off hot/cold all the time then the older systems.  I also take care of servers for a print shop part time and we have had systems runnign now for 12-15 years with no troubles. I generally like to leave a computer run 24/7.  You can have it set to do things in the middle of the night while you sleep so it doesnt slow things down during the day when you want to use it. Virus checking and updates are nice to run at night as well as other programs such as defrag and other maint. programs can run.  If you leave it run all the time I would plan to open it up every once ina  while and blow the dust bunnys out of it.  CPU fans and video card fans will pick up dust pretty fast.


Todd

[bakerhillpins]

Troy,
Is this the "sleep" option in Vista? I'm starting to get a problem now. For no apparent reason and totally random during the day, the machine seems to be locked up. What I mean is the light(s) on the keyboard (usually just one on, the Num_Lock) go off and my screen is blank. I can't reactivate the screen with the movement of the mouse and/or striking a key. The CPU on/off button is still lite, but nothing's happening. I usually have to push the button down for 5 seconds to force shutdown. It's 

Did you try just pushing the power button once? In the Vista/Win7 you can set various power options, one of which will cause your PC to sleep or hibernate after X minutes. In some sleep type states the power button "glows" or pulses and you just need to touch the button once to tell it to wake up. It should start to hit the HD and in a min or so come back up.

[4cruzin]

Mine runs 24/7.  No issues . .   

[Tilar]

The only time mine gets shut down is when the elctricity goes off, and it only gets rebooted if it's been up for over a month without the electricity going off...

Ran a BBS system back in the day before internet.

Todd

Ahh the days of the BBS.    I ran a 64 node Excalibur system for 5 years between 1995 and 2000, free internet access and email. Never charged money for anything.

[Todd Wilson]

The only time mine gets shut down is when the elctricity goes off, and it only gets rebooted if it's been up for over a month without the electricity going off...

Ran a BBS system back in the day before internet.

Todd

Ahh the days of the BBS.    I ran a 64 node Excalibur system for 5 years between 1995 and 2000, free internet access and email. Never charged money for anything.

I ran a BBS on a Commodore 64  with a 40 meg harddrive for many years.  Had a multiplexer hooked to the HD that allowed multiple C64's to use the HD and was able to run a 2 line BBS with 2 64's hooked up. Went to my Amiga and ran a BBS with 3 lines for many many years.  Converted to PCBoard running under DOS the last few years and never did enjoy that software at all. Started in about 1985  and I think I finally pulled the plug in about 2000 or so. Didnt really have any calls the last few years.  It sat there sucking dust in the corner. One day I realized I was paying X amount of dollars a month for a phone line that wasnt getting much use.

The good ol days though! I really enjoyed it!


Todd

[Tilar]

That is some setup =)  Excalibur was a windows based system and really had a ton of features, But the "door games" sucked. I had my list of DOS boards that I called just to play Legend of the Red Dragon.   

You're right, they were the good ol days. 

[BananaDan]

It doesn't matter either way IMO.  If you want to pay for the electrical bill, there's no harm leaving it on 24x7.  If not, shut it down.  Most computer components outlast the average expected lifespan of a computer anyway.  Moving parts are going to go first, like fans and hard drives.  If you can afford for a solid state drive, you'll save on power and add performance and life span.  As far as the bill for 24x7, think of it as leaving a 150-200 watt light bulb on 24x7 (wattage depends on components and age of PC - newer components are more power efficient). 

Personally, at home I use power saving modes such as hibernate or sleep except for my home server which is on 24x7.  At work we leave everything on 24x7.  My team manages/supports 1,200 servers globally, they're on 24x7 and some are 6-8 years old.  Most failures are HDD's and batteries, which have shorter life spans but HDD's have gotten much more resilient in the past 3-4 years.  Most significant failures for us are from when a location's building management needs us to power a site down for the weekend for bldg maintenance, or from when we move servers from site to site and they're down for an extended period. 

The catch with leaving a computer on 24x7 for extended periods (many years) is the components don't like an extended power down.  A reboot is ok, but power off for a period of time is the issue.  So if you do 24x7, stick with it.  I have a personal rule at work that I won't move/relocate a server that is 5+ years old unless we have absolutely no other option, and if we have to every precaution is taken.

[hemi68charger]

Thanks guys..
I was interested in another thing. Is there a program that I can check the USB power supply on the motherboard. It was brought to my attention that the computer random lock up (which includes my keyboard and mouse being inactive) would be caused by the USB ports power supply fluctuating in operation.. The power button doesn't go off, but there's nothing on the screen and I can't activate it with the keyboard and/or mouse (once again, the lights on the keyboard go out when this fault happens).

Cheers,
Troy