[Fr_Chuck]

Having a "discussion" with wife, sister in law and the devil ( OK not the devil but you can guess which family member that is)

Is there an issue about leaving the computer turned on 24 hours a day, we are going to try a new phone system, but it requires the computer to be on all the time. Getting mixed answers, so I want to get some from people I can trust, and from the rest of you also.

[rpg219]

Mine has been on for 24 hours a day for 3 years now, so I guess it can't be that bad, huh?

[Curlyben]

Hmmmmm.
Other than the obvious security and powers aspects, no issues.

Just ensure your firewall and anti virus are all up to date and working perfectly.
After all web servers are left on 24/7 with no ill effects.
Admittedly windows based machines do need the occasional reboot to clear put the cludged RAM.
My work desktop is always on and only gets rebooted for the monthly M$ patches.

[morgaine300]

I leave mine on most of the time too, but I try to remember to at least reboot it on a regular basis to clear its mind. :-) Every so often I actually turn it off for the night and let it think it's having a rest. I also let the hard drives go to sleep and the monitor goes on stand-by. I don't hybernate it.

My brother turns his off every night, or any time he thinks he'll be gone for quite a while.

I can believe you're getting mixed answers. But I think most of the geeky sort of people I know leave them on at least a lot.

[Clough]

Well, I would assume that I would fall into the "rest of you" category. :)

I have thought about asking a similar type of question about computers being left on, period. For me, I generally encounter some problems if I leave one of my computers on for great lengths of time and don't do anything on one of them after a lengthy period while they are on. But, my computers would probably be considered to be "dinosaurs" compared to other's computers.

As such, I think that it would be helpful to know what kind of computer that you have and other information about the operating system of it for your question to be answered the best.

Just my thoughts on this...

[templelane]

Talking aout dinosaur computers my dad basically hacked up computer to become a server used to be left on 24/7 about five years ago (I think this computer is almost 9 years old and still trundling along) and it was fine.

Offices often leave computers on 24/7 and where I work the macs are left on 24/7 (although they are all snazzy and new). Fro what I have been led to believe and have experienced it does no harm- the odd reboot here and there is a good idea though.

Just remember to turn the monitor off when you are not using it, it saves so much electricity!

[Clough]

Yes. Turning the monitor off is a good idea because of the amount of electricity that it consumes.

[NeedKarma]

I leave both my computers on all the time, just reboot for certain updates. My LCD screens are set to turn off after a set amount of inactivity.

Rogers in Canada (the cable company) is having good success with their phone service here. I suspect you are trying out a Skype-type service?

[procomps]

Very good answer!

[procomps]

As a network administrator for over 1000 PCs, not counting servers, I always condone leaving a PC and monitor on 24/7. I have done this with all my personal PCs and monitors for at least 15 years and have never had a hardware failure. I ALWAYS have a good firewall router and UPS, and use Norton Internet Security for my software firewall, and I feel using a reliable screen is a good idea, too.

Think of things this way: You are looking to buy one of two identical used cars, each having 100,000 miles on the odometer and good maintenance records. The first car was owned by a traveling salesman who put 95+% of his miles on the freeway going from city to city. The second car was owned by a "soccer mom" who was almost always running errands around town. Which car would you want to buy?

Every mechanical and electronic component in cars or computers is happiest when it maintains the same speed and/or temperature. In stop-and-go traffic, the strain of moving from a standstill through various speeds and/or temperatures causes excessive wear and tear on components. The same is true of computers and monitors with lots of moving parts (hard drives and fans) and electronics that cool down when off and heat back up to a steady state temperature when turned on. This thermal contraction and expansion is hard on bearings, circuit board traces, and other components of all types.

My own research consisted of selecting 100 PC users with virtually identical hardware, then instructing 50 users to NEVER turn off the PCs and monitors, and the other 50 users to turn off both their PCs and monitors every time they anticipated being away from their desks for more than a couple of hours. The results after one month: the 24/7 units had less than 5% maintenance calls, while the on/off units experienced roughly 26% maintenance calls. Not all maintenance calls resulted from a component failure, in fact a reboot resolved most problems with the PCs. However, when a monitor failed (none for the always on group) it would have to be sent out for servicing after replacing it with another identical monitor.

NOW which used car (or computer/monitor) would you buy?

Note: The average maintenance call took a half-hour of technician time, and $20-$100 when a replacement was needed. Compare that to the off-hour electricity costs for an always-on system $0.15/day, and you will see that leaving your PC and monitor on 24/7 is actually the cheaper route.

Another note: If you feel you absolutely MUST turn the units off when not in use, limit the cycles to on once in the morning and off only at the end of your day.

[retsoksirhc]

I'd agree that the only ill effect is really the power consumption. I have a linux server running in my closet. It's been sitting on a shelf, with a network cable and a power cable, and nothing else, for about a year. The only time I have EVER had to reboot it, is when the power goes out.

Windows on the other hand... it's fine to leave on, but like others said, it needs a short break once and a while. As a network administrator for a consulting company, we usually set a nightly reboot on windows servers for our clients, around 3am. The longest I've seen a windows server run for without a reboot was 245 days. I run XP on my personal desktop, I reboot it about once a week.

[twilcox]

No problems. I agree with others about keeping your security software up to date. Also, make sure that you have the guest account disabled if you're leaving it on constantly.

Windows does require an occasional reboot just to clean it up, but usually it works no problems. I seldom actually turn off my computer, and never for more than a few seconds.