Long hours bad for PC?

pyrate83 · Posted: Jun 08, 2003 23:19

I had a friend ask me recently if leaving your computer on for 5 or 6 days straight is bad for it? I didn't know if it was and I always turn mine off before going to sleep. Is it really bad for Windows or the computer to be one for such a long period?

Faustus · insane. Joined: 11 Apr 2002 Location: Dallas, TX

This is a point of very long debate, some say its bad for the computer, but others say its not. I can say that I used to leave my PC on all the time with just a reboot once per day, but that was before my XP2000+ started heating up my Bedroom.

The only real harm I can see if you are properly cooled is the hard drive spinning basicly all the time, fans and hard drive have a Expected lifespan based on how many hours of life. It usually quite high however. If you use sleepmode with hard drive spin down it shouldn't be a problem ever.

Also it helps if your powersupply supports real sleep mode, cause then even it goes into a hibernation mode, but its by no means required.

Hope that helps.

pacmania_2001 · mmm...bop Joined: 04 Apr 2001 Location: Australia

Mine stays on for as long as 4-5 days at a time (running Win98SE). The only reason I do turn it off is usually because it crashes or just crawls to a stop.

On the newer OS's though such as WinXP/2000 a system can stay on for weeks or months at a time without a problem.

So in conclusion, leaving your computer on won't do any damage.
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pyrate83 · Posted: Jun 09, 2003 00:08

Well I'm glad that I am getting some answers re: this however for some reason I can't for the life of me get my computer to go into sleep or hibernation mode. It always comes back out of it on its own and it pissed me off enough that I just deselected the option to do so. Any suggestions why it doesn't want to do this?

zodiac · Member Joined: 30 Sep 2002

i've had my computer for a year and a half.if i add the total time its been off,it would be less two weeks.
you should turn off the monitor when your not there though.
as for windows,it depends on the os.win9x doesn't handle ram as good as win2000 or xp,so it may need a restart after a few days.
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pacmania_2001 · mmm...bop Joined: 04 Apr 2001 Location: Australia

Yes, just turn off the monitor when you leave it on overnight otherwise (in extreme cases) you may get monitor burn (is that the correct term?).
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pyrate83 · Posted: Jun 09, 2003 00:16

Well I have my monitor turn off under my power settings but I still can't figure out why my system doesn't want to stay in standby mode or hibernation mode. Any suggestions?

zodiac · Member Joined: 30 Sep 2002

i dont use those features,but try setting it up in the bios.
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Conquest10 · Thread Killer Joined: 05 Sep 2002 Location: Chicago, IL

i regularly leave my computer on for days. i've only been doing it since i got xp though. i used to have win me and it wouldn't even last 4 hours without needing a reboot.
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The village idiot · Posted: Jun 09, 2003 02:56

I used to do that with NT4. The things would be on for weeks without reboot.
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Craig Tucker · Moderator Joined: 05 Apr 2001 Location: England

I never switch mine off unless I have to. Reboot on installation of software or a crash.
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freak_in_cage_10k · Member Joined: 10 Nov 2002 Location: UK

i never turn mine off unless i have to, i am in University Halls of residence accomadation and so i dont even pay the electricity though!!

i dont pay the heating bill either but my room is always really hot with this 2200+ churning out the heat all day!

i always herd that frequently restarting the pc was bad for the HD. spinning the HD discs constantly requires a lot less effort & energy (and therefore less strain on the HD motors) than spinning the hd discs from standstill (like you would have to do if you shut your pc down). Obviosuly this only makes a small difference but over a few years, if you turned your pc off twice a day (lunch break & at night) then it may make a difference??

i agree that you should turn off your monitor when you are not using it and having sum power saving settings which lower the rpm of the Hard drives sounds a good idea
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i_am_dave · Dreamer Joined: 10 Feb 2003 Location: Tennessee

I never turn mine off. Of course, most of the time, it is busy encoding something.
I am running XP. There is no way I would have attempted this with my last computer (running 9

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RabidDog · Old B. Joined: 25 Oct 2002 Location: UK

"long hours bad for pc " ... well, if he caught more crims in the first place.....

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jacknjt · Member Joined: 24 Jan 2002

i think it doesnt matter cause today technology fly so fast that u gonna want a new faster computer a few months after ur new computer.

WeedVender · Posted: Jun 09, 2003 15:25

Acutally It is very good to have a PC on for all the time.

restarting it frequently kills the HDD because of the strain. Just so as long as you have quality components, ur PC wont die.

But....... If you have it on for like a year.. thats suicide..
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Xtasy2002 · Member Joined: 26 Aug 2002 Location: United States

mysticgohan17 · superxero88 Joined: 22 Nov 2001

zodiac · Member Joined: 30 Sep 2002

luvvbuzz · Member Joined: 20 Jul 2003 Location: london uk

surely there is a fire risk if you leave electrical equipment on all the time, imagine it overheats when you are in bed, you could die of smoke inhalation if it caused a fire. i think it must cause just the same amount of wear on internal parts to keep them on 24 hours a day as it would if you just used your computer a few hours a day then switched it off, after all, when it is off the parts are not being used. nobody says leave there car engine running all night in the garage so it doesnt cool down do they? if you did that with a car then it wouldnt last as long as it should cos the constant engine running would wear the parts. as far as i am concerned the same principle applies to computers, they wear out with use!

i_am_dave · Dreamer Joined: 10 Feb 2003 Location: Tennessee

It's OK to leave it on, just be sure that you are running a good surge protector, especially if you plan to be away from home.
Case in point:

Last Saturday, I took the family on a day trip. When I got home, the lights were acting funny, and I could smell fried electronics all over the house.
Called the guy from the local power company and he said that a squirrel had chewed through the neutral line. This allowed the AC to float as high at 180 volts on one leg.
I lost about $300 worth of electronics, since this happened around 1 in the afternoon and I didn't get home until 8 that night.
Luckily, most, but not all of my stuff was on protectors.
I fried 3 surge protectors but feel good about it, because I would have toasted about $4000 of electronics if they hadn't been doing their job.
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indolikaa · Gone Joined: 14 Jun 2002 Location: .....

Both PCs stay powered up and 'awake' 24-7 here at the Ranch. Line conditioning and UPC are a must if you're going to let 'em run like this.

pyrate83 · Posted: Aug 15, 2003 15:26

It's always nice to see one of my old threads open again.

Thanks.

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zodiac · Member Joined: 30 Sep 2002

i lost another power supply since my last post in this thread

it was a two month old 400w antec

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pyrate83 · Posted: Aug 15, 2003 19:23

Well that sucks zodiak! Real bummer...maybe it was just poorly made??? Doesn't seem right for it to go out after only two months.

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gmatov · **Banned** Joined: 21 Nov 2002 Location: Pgh Area

Luvbuzz,

You seem to be missing a point or two.

First, if you should buy a high mileage car, they will probably try to convince you that it belonged to a salesman, as highway miles are considered to be less detrimental than stop and go miles. You are moving, the engine is running and pumping oil at a decent rate, not at idle rate, nor do you have to accelerate from a stop to highway speed, wiping oil nearly as quickly as the pump can supply it. ( Well, in CA you might.)

The second is what is called " thermal shock ", which is what you get when you turn on and off an electrical device. A watt is equivalent to 3.412 BTUs, and everytime you turn on your machine, it draws X watts, produces Y BTUs. Cpus draw about 70 watts today, aqd produce nearly 250 BTUs to be carried away. You also get thermal expansion, yhe hotter parts of your machine will " grow " faster than the board, and, possibly wear contacts, ets, as well as simply stressing the ekectronic components. Light bulbs usually burn out from being turned on and off, thermal shock, rather than simply wearing out.
Everyone has read of bulbs out of reach burning for 25 years or so, because they could not be turned on and off.

When you are not using your computer, overnight, for instance, it is just idling, drawing the least it can, the drives go to sleep, the monitor goes to sleep, you are basically in STR, Suspend to RAM. Click a key, it may wake up, and draw whatever you require of it.

BTW, if it " overheats ", generally, a computer dies. It does not sit there smoking, as you fridge might.