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Thread ID: 108986 2010-04-19 09:23:00 How many times a day do you reboot your computer? Ice Road Trucker (15659) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
878039 2010-04-19 10:39:00 Mine stays on 24/7

Gets rebooted only when there is an upgrade.
Zippity (58)
878040 2010-04-19 11:26:00 Mine stays on 24/7

Gets rebooted only when there is an upgrade.
Same for me, it usually stays on for weeks. And I don't pay for power at my apartment. :D

Windows Updates are annoying though. Thought I turned the damn things off but then I come home and find it's rebooted itself.
Orca (3098)
878041 2010-04-19 11:28:00 Windows 7 - Asus notebook. Doesn't crash. Only gets turned off (briefly) when a Windows update requires it. Otherwise it's on 24/7.

I have the screen turn off after 30 minutes of non-use - but that's more to save the screen than electricity - it's LED backlit anyway, so uses b-all power...
johcar (6283)
878042 2010-04-19 11:58:00 My experience is that the ones that stay on all the time generally last longer than the on/off ones.

Of course it depends on the operating environment and a lot of other factors, but I suspect that the thermal expansion & contraction of all those soldered joints twice a day will take their toll over time.

Constant temp = happy components. :)

Electronic components have finite life in 1000's of hours, as do HDDs etc. You can use that life up in 3.5 years or 10 years depending on how soon a worst case scenario looms on your horizon so that the computer can sense this and die at the worst possible time.

Not only that, long term heating is the enemy of all electronics and thermal expansion/contraction is a very minor factor in modern electronics

I turn on my computer when I'm ready to begin work each day, and turn it off every night. Not only does this extend the working life expectancy, it also gives me a clean boot to start every day. Proof of the value of minimising the hours lies in the performance of my last two computers. My immediate past box has done 9 years and only just had a major problem. It had only one OS reinstall in that time too, caused by a mistake I made, not any need.

The computer before that I called 'Old Faithful' because it started with Win95, moved to Win98 and ran way past 12 years service, ending its days as a print and mail server. Off every night, on every morning, mostly 7 days a week and I think it only died last year.

Cheers

Billy 8-{)
Billy T (70)
878043 2010-04-19 12:24:00 I just hibernate it at night, standby when I'm away during the day, and restart it when it needs restarting, around once a week. george12 (7)
878044 2010-04-19 13:00:00 @ BillyT
Fair enough, that is another pov.
I haven't done any scientific studies or kept statistics or analysed it in detail, it's just my feeling based on my own experience.

I too, have long lived PC's, my current router began life running Win95 and has been ON since 1997 :)
I have an '02 vintage machine that is now a mail/file/web server and has always been ON.

I've heard the arguments for and against, some have merit, some not.

I've supported machines in quite a few engineering/automotive businesses over the years (with offices that get cold overnight) and noticed a difference in longevity between the pc's that stay on and those that are turned off each night.

Leaving them on WILL cost you more for power. If you are only using it a few hours a day, turn it off.
PC's can, and do, fail, at any time, for any reason (cosmic rays have a lot to answer for too :)) wheather you run them 24/7 or turn them off.
fred_fish (15241)
878045 2010-04-19 13:20:00 You have used the same router for 13 years? Thats impressive if its not a typo.

Personally my desktop is on most the time, only gets turned off if im at the mrs place for a few days, and lappy only gets slept when its travelling but otherwise its on 24/7
hueybot3000 (3646)
878046 2010-04-19 14:11:00 You have used the same router for 13 years?
I've had it longer than my children :cool:
486DX-2 16MB ram 120MB HDD
I got it when it retired from about 3 years service at Westpac IIRC :)
Converted it to my dial-up router, web, ftp, mail server & PDC.
I offloaded most of the servers to the other machine a few years ago, but it is still happily chugging along, now routing my 10Mbit cable connection to the rest of the LAN.
fred_fish (15241)
878047 2010-04-19 14:23:00 Is Ice Road Trucker = Radium? Renmoo (66)
878048 2010-04-19 14:24:00 Just when I turn it on in the evening beeswax34 (63)
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