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Computers: Do They Need Time Off?
A debate has raged for years
over whether computers should be turned off when not in use or left on
all the time.
There are those that believe a computer’s life is shortened by turning
it on and off – that every time it’s turned on a potentially damaging
surge of electricity goes through the machine and sooner or later it
will go kaput.
This is contradicted by evidence from the manufacturers of computers and
other related hardware that indicates there is no reduction in the
useful life of this equipment when it’s turned on and off up to ten
times a day.
The usual causes of failure are more likely to be the hours the computer
has been in use and a buildup of heat in the operating environment. A
computer that’s turned off experiences less of both factors so in theory
giving your PC an overnight break will prolong its service life.
Another theory says that computers should be turned off to avoid wear on
the hard drives that involve disks spinning at a constant high speed.
However, the hard drives on newer computers are made to withstand this
wear and tear and will generally last longer than the rest of the PC’s
components.
Security is another concern for those who leave their PCs turned on.
It’s an easy matter to access files on the computer if the user remains
logged on after he or she has gone home for the night. Hackers too find
it easier to “break in” to an idle PC that remains connected to the
network.
Let’s not forget Mother Nature. If an electrical storm strikes nearby
while your computer is on there’s a good chance that your surge
protector will be zapped and need to be replaced. There’s even a chance
that your whole computer will have its insides fried and there goes
whatever’s inside.
Back to the other side of the argument. Andrew Suroweic, owner of
alps1.net computer consulting in the US says: "I always recommend that a
computer be left on almost all of the time. It's usually a customer who
turns their computer on and off 10 times a day that needs a new
motherboard and/or processor after about three years."
Another expert opinion comes from Russell Damphousse, information
technology manager for automotive tooling supplier Valiant
International: "I have learned that the power consumed is minor when
compared to the problems of power down, power up. I tell users to think
of a light bulb. They won't burn out when lit, only when you turn them
on. The off-on process is the hardest thing you can do to an electrical
component."
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency office equipment,
including computers, accounts for about 7% of all commercial electricity
consumption. Monitors are the biggest energy consumers using about 75
watts, and the computer uses about 45 watts every hour. Leaving a
computer on will naturally consume more power than switching it off.
There is an option worth considering. You can have your computer go into
‘standby’ mode when you don’t need to use it for a while. The computer
shuts down the video display and stops the hard drives from spinning.
This reduces energy consumption and the electronic version of wear and
tear on the hard drives and monitor.
Computers can easily be configured to go into standby mode automatically
after a predetermined period of inactivity. To return it to operational
status all you need to do is press a key or a mouse button and back to
life it comes. Usually.
Experience shows that not every PC will recover from standby when you
want it to. It’s always best to experiment first by changing the
settings in Control Panel/Power Management and seeing how it goes.
Otherwise you may find that the computer has frozen instead of just
going to sleep and you have to reboot to get things working again.
It would appear that the case
for turning computers off when they’re not in use is a bit stronger than
the case for leaving them on, although the experts are anything but
united. At least it can be said that turning a PC off reduces its
exposure to heat, reduces hours of use, cuts energy costs and reduces
security risks.
However you might want to leave your computer on even when you’re not
using it because someone else can make use of its processing power.
Climateprediction.net is a global project to run hundreds of thousands
of slightly differing climate models by tapping into the computing power
of PC users around the world.
You download some software and leave your PC on so it can run one of the
model simulations in your designated downtime. The project was launched
September 12, 2003 and signed up 25,000 users worldwide on the first
weekend.
And finally, when in doubt you can always do what is usually the last
resort for knowledge-seekers and read the instructions that came with
your computer. If the company that made the PC thinks it needs a good
night’s sleep then you can feel better about switching it off when
you’re through for the day.
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