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This question has two parts:

1 I have heard people claim that it is good to leave the computer on, whether it is a lap top or a personal computer or any kind, because, they claim, repeatedly turning the computer on and off shortens the life of the device. Others have claimed it shortens its life if you leave it on. Which is true?

2 With regards to electronic devices in general, I read that there is what they call "vampire power"; if you leave the device plugged in it still extracts power from the outlet or battery or whatever your power system, and it is best to unplug after use. What is the truth to this?

SpyderEdgeForever wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 02, 2019 10:14 am

This question has two parts:

1 I have heard people claim that it is good to leave the computer on, whether it is a lap top or a personal computer or any kind, because, they claim, repeatedly turning the computer on and off shortens the life of the device. Others have claimed it shortens its life if you leave it on. Which is true?

2 With regards to electronic devices in general, I read that there is what they call "vampire power"; if you leave the device plugged in it still extracts power from the outlet or battery or whatever your power system, and it is best to unplug after use. What is the truth to this?

1. I've heard arguments for, and against turning them off. As for me, I turn my desktop computer off every night. May not be the best thing for the monitor. From what I've read there's something in them that is only good for a finite number of on/off cycles. However, my oldest one (a 25" Dell) is about 5 years old now, and still going strong. Given that 27" monitors can now be had for under $200, I wouldn't shed too many tears if I had to replace it tomorrow. I can say for a fact that leaving a laptop turned off but hooked up to its charger for a prolonged period will kill the battery. Found that out the hard way. No idea what leaving one running and charging would do.

2. Yep, many modern electronic devices draw a very small amount of power when turned off. For most we're talking less than a watt. So 8.5 KWH a year, or less. For me, that means each of them costs about 75 cents a year. They also take longer to warm up if you unplug them, and are warming up at full power. So, it's a trade off. I'd say if it's something you use at least once or twice a week, leave it plugged in. If it sees only occasional use, unplug it.

IMHO, you'd have to be on a very, very tight budget to worry about those things. Water heaters, air conditioners, refrigerators and freezers, stoves and microwaves, washers and dryers, and lighting are your biggest energy consumers. If you're looking to save on your electric bill and still using incandescent bulbs, switching to CFLs or LEDs is worth the cost, especially in lights that are on more than an hour or two a day.

That's really interesting and coincidental that you bring up this subject SEF and I very glad you did. With my Desktop unit that I am currently using about 80% of the time I'm online I had a small problem with it about two months ago. I had to go to a job which took me out of town for about 6 days so I just turned off everything ( monitors, printers, fax, tower ect).

When I got back I tried to boot it up again and it went into some really weird mode that I couldn't get out of. After turning it on and off about 4 times I initially thought I might have burnt out the soundcard and/or power-supply unit from the way it was acting :confused: . Well before I even considered taking it in everywhere to have it checked out I tried a few things on my own. First I took a small vacuum cleaner and vacuumed all of the vent holes and cleaned ever thing I could clean including vacuuming out all of the ports and socket holes. I then took the tower and turned it upside down and tapped it briskly on every side.

Then I hooked up everything that I had unplugged and even re-booted the AT&T modem. It finally fired back up in it's normal re-boot process and has been running like a charm since that day. However I've kept it turned on and have not turned it off at all. The flat screen monitor shuts itself off or goes into hibernation mode. But I just plan on leaving the entire system turned on unless some savvy tech-head can tell me what might be wrong that caused that episode to begin with. But I do have a feeling that all that cleaning might have done it some good and maybe the hard drive just needed to be jostled loose>> just a wild guess anyway. But I'm going to leave this one one from now on unless I have no choice in the matter. Where I used to work we never ever turned anything off and most of the stuff lasted a very long time.

The only problem with leaving your machine on always, is that it might crash during a power outage, which risks corrupting your disks. Here in Ca, power fails at least twice a year.
At my work everything is always on, but they have emergency power supplies to bridge outages or at least provide a few minutes to shut down. Few households have these however.

If you allow a computer to hibernate after a set period of inactivity this will both save energy compared to being "on" and allow a faster return to function than a full restart. Older machines or operating systems may not support this feature.

Audio gear (at least any that is likely to be listened to critically) generally benefits from being fully warmed up, the sound is subtly better once components reach thermal and electrical equilibrium, so leaving a high end audio system always powered on can have a benefit. Also, some higher output circuit parts take more cumulative wear from the thermal cycle of warm-up and cool-down than they do from being on constantly, so power amps especially can last longer if left on 24-7 than if they are turned off after every listening session. Depends on the amp in question, but the power draw is likely to be much more than a dormant microwave or computer.

Always have a UPS and leave your PC on. Plus, remember to blow out the dust as it accumulates inside the PC.

In my 20 years of working with computers for a living (IT tech at Lund University) i have found that 8 out of 10 terminal failures/crashes occur after (re)starting computers so my vote is absolutely leave it on, in "sleep mode" if/when not using it.

Thought it was weird that my new ipad had a screen that said.

Your iPad backs up when it is power downed, plugged in and connected to wifi.

awa54 wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 03, 2019 9:38 am

If you allow a computer to hibernate after a set period of inactivity this will both save energy compared to being "on" and allow a faster return to function than a full restart. Older machines or operating systems may not support this feature.

Audio gear (at least any that is likely to be listened to critically) generally benefits from being fully warmed up, the sound is subtly better once components reach thermal and electrical equilibrium, so leaving a high end audio system always powered on can have a benefit. Also, some higher output circuit parts take more cumulative wear from the thermal cycle of warm-up and cool-down than they do from being on constantly, so power amps especially can last longer if left on 24-7 than if they are turned off after every listening session. Depends on the amp in question, but the power draw is likely to be much more than a dormant microwave or computer.

This about audio equipment is life or death for the audiophiliacs, and it's not Just the components but the cables to. I know a couple of People that are borderline insane about this , and if they turn their power off they have to burn in cables and warm up components. Worst case scenario they never get the sound right again.. :)
I turn everything off, stereo and computer, but the stereo takes 20-30 minutes of play to sound right.

Mom3ntuM wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 04, 2019 9:05 am

This about audio equipment is life or death for the audiophiliacs, and it's not Just the components but the cables to. I know a couple of People that are borderline insane about this , and if they turn their power off they have to burn in cables and warm up components. Worst case scenario they never get the sound right again.. :)
I turn everything off, stereo and computer, but the stereo takes 20-30 minutes of play to sound right.

Yeah, the disease is known as Audiophilia Nervousa, it can lead to extreme paranoia that your cables are being affected by cosmic forces beyond our comprehension and a deep seated belief that the Illuminati are injecting RF "hash" in to the AC power lines (which can only be remedied by using medical grade power outlets, $1000 detachable power cords and regulated power conditioners)... This disorder can also lead to sleepless nights of attempting to divine which formula for phono cartridge alignment yields the best inner-groove compromise and insoluble questions of whether tuning azimuth is best done by measurement or by ear :eek:

While I *do* believe that many of these tweaks yield subtle improvements in a good enough system (m'pingo discs excepted!), I also try not to let concerns about micro-level improvements interfere with my enjoyment of *music*!

I typically leave all of my devices on.. laptop, iphone, ipad, etc. The cost of doing so doesn't induce shock at seeing my electric bill quite like running my air conditioner come summer-time will..

It is also important that you make sure to update your devices. Along with security updates, there are often tweaks made to software to make them run more efficiently. It is sometimes a PITA because these updates can seem incessant, but they do always seem to keep my machines in good working order.

I won't pretend to be some sort of computer expert, but I think electronic devices are pretty much designed to be "always on" in today's hyper-technological world. Besides, how else would you expect google and the NSA to monitor your every interaction?

I've always heard cycling was where life expectancy takes a hit, so things like hard drives don't like to be powered on and off. If you use it daily it's probably best to leave it running, but something that is seldom used may last longer if it's left off. I have storage drives that automatically power off unless they're being accessed.

I started working with and on computers and networks in 1978. I can promise you that the more you power your system on and off the quicker it will fail. The same with hard drives. The real key is to prevent excessive heat buildup from dust. This goes for routers, switches and just about everything.

Just leave them on. I have left all my computers on all the time and I've had very little failures. A few fans, had a power supply go poof, and that's about it. Never had a hard drive fail.

My computer is pushing 10 years old I believe, maybe a little older. I've upgraded the graphics card once, replaced the power supply, and added fans and a cpu cooler. It's a tank and runs the games I want to play (assetto corsa and elite dangerous mostly).

So just leave 'em on!

Here is a related question: If you leave your computer on all the time, someone told me, then it becomes more vulnerable to hackers and viruses. Is that true or false, and that as long as you have good anti virus protection your machine will be okay?

SEF, If you are afraid about hackers or viruses you could turn internet connection off during standby. Easy doing but effective

SpyderEdgeForever wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 17, 2019 3:44 am

as long as you have good anti virus protection your machine will be okay?

SpyderEdgeForever wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 17, 2019 3:44 am

Here is a related question: If you leave your computer on all the time, someone told me, then it becomes more vulnerable to hackers and viruses. Is that true or false, and that as long as you have good anti virus protection your machine will be okay?

I use Microsofts protection... I don't have any problems. Be smart about how you surf and you shouldn't have any problems. If you're really concerned about hackers then use a VPN.

As for leaving it on making it more vulnerable? I doubt it. Like I said, I've never had a problem. The only time my information has been stolen was from gas station skimmers... Twice in one year. At two different stations. Probably the same person honestly. Someone bought a lot of Taco bell (90 dollars over 2 days) though!

My understanding, from what I've been told by computer technicians, and my current practice when it comes to a personal, "use at home" computer...

...If you've turned on the computer, worked on it, are taking a break (perhaps for a few minutes to an hour or so), and you're coming back to do more work or surf or whatever, leave it on. If, however, you know you're not going to be doing any computer work whatsoever for a few hours or more, turn it off. And, if you're closing things down for the night and getting ready for bed, turn the computer off. The computer technicians I spoke with were also advocating turning a computer off if you're not going to do any work for several hours versus using the sleep mode since completely shutting down the computer and turning it on allows for everything to be fully reset and refreshed.

The only time I've heard that a computer should be left on all of the time/overnight are for those computers used by governments or industries since their IT personnel are frequently sending out upgrades to keep operating systems and anti-virus/anti-malware programs fully up to date.