Expert Recmmendations Sought

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Andy

To All Cognoscenti, Greetings!

I leave my computer on 24/7 to minimize damage due to heat fluctuations. Am
I wise or foolish to do so?

Thanks.

Andy
 
Andy said:
To All Cognoscenti, Greetings!

I leave my computer on 24/7 to minimize damage due to heat fluctuations. Am
I wise or foolish to do so?

Thanks.

Andy
Click to expand...
heat *fluctuations* do not damage electrical equipment unless of course
the temp. gets too hot.

other than excess temperature there are several other ways equipment can
fail:

1) surges from turning equipment on
(and thus the reason some folks never turn their equipment off)

2) total hours run
(and thus the reason folks turn their equipment off)

I always turn all my equipment off at the end of the day. Been doing it
that way for many years... and have had no equipment failures other than
one PS which had failed on the 2nd day (due to a factory defect)
 
FWIW, I keep mine on 24/7. I suppose there's good arguments on both sides,
but based on my experiences and frankly gut feelings, I think it's better to
keep things running at a constant temp/humidity, to the extent possible.
But the problem today goes beyond just the issue of hardware.

NOT running 24/7 these days is, for many of us, simply impractical. I
literally have dozens of background jobs I need to run nightly, but the idea
of running them during the day would be a real hassle and drag on my
resources. I run a FULL virus scan twice a week (this alone takes a couple
hours), plus nighly signature updates. Add to this spyware scans (at least
three), my backup jobs, Outlook Express newsgroup updates (so I don't miss
messages should I not use the app for a few days), RAID synchronization
checks, Microsoft updates, various other apps that like to auto-update,
webpage monitoring apps ("watchers"), podcast updates, DL jobs, instant
messengers (suppose someone wants to reach you at an odd hour, or leave a
message), remote access needs, Tivo Desktop (this utility makes my networked
MPEGs, mp3, etc., available to my three Tivo's at anytime of day), and on
and on.

IOW, my machines are *working* 24/7, even when I'm not personally in front
of them! While not everyone may require as many jobs as I do, I don't think
it's all that hard for any system to require/profit from 'round the clock
operations. It's just too much hassle to expect to have these jobs running
during daily operating hours, or worse, requiring me to remember to boot the
machine so they can. IMO, for anyone who uses their computer for more than
a simple email check, or browse a few websites, the days of running a few
hours and shutting down are over. And it will only get worse as people
employ their computers for more and more purposes, esp. network enabled apps
(the network never closes, even if you do!).

Jim
 
To All Cognoscenti, Greetings!

I leave my computer on 24/7 to minimize damage due to heat fluctuations. Am
I wise or foolish to do so?
Click to expand...

Some mechanical parts like drives "might" have increased
wear from large thermal changes during cycling. It would
tend to matter how much thermal change there is too.
Generally this is an issue when trying for longest possible
runtime in extreme situations, not a typical use in typical
environment. In typical environments you should be able to
turn off the system whenever it isn't to be used for a
reasonable period of time.

Sometimes (old generic silicone based) thermal compound is
subject to pumping out more quickly with the thermal
changes, but leaving it hot does not prevent this from
occuring either. The solution to this is to use a
reasonably good quality synthetic based compound, though it
need not be silver-based, the synthetic base is the
important parameter.
 
Thanks much for all the useful comments. Now I can see why this is such a
controversial subject.

I forgot to mention that my computer does some work every night, such as
scanning for viruses and spyware, and the occasional defrag, so my question
was more academic than practical.

Thanks again.

Andy
 
Thanks much for all the useful comments. Now I can see why this is such a
controversial subject.
Click to expand...
I forgot to mention that my computer does some work every night, such as
scanning for viruses and spyware, and the occasional defrag, so my question
was more academic than practical.
Click to expand...

Two recommendations(sic) come to mind:

1) Learn how to spell.

2) Do not top post.

Can you handle that, Spunky?


--

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SONY IS TRYING TO TAKE OVER YOUR COMPUTER!

HOMELAND SECURITY TOLD SONY TO CEASE AND DESIST!

YOU DO THE SAME - BOYCOTT SONY!
 
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