Do you leave your computer on?

[aisling]

My fantasy is to install a windmill or two, which could run all the computers (maybe not the monitors??) and some LED lighting around the house..

I lived on a property that was entirely off grid (wind and solar). The windmill produces a rather loud noise and vibratory hum, so make sure it is as far away from your studio as possible. It is even best if you have a hill or two in between to diffuse the vibrations.

[djsynchro]

But all the power wasted while computers are sitting idle overnight adds up, and one study has finally tried to measure it. The tally: An estimated $2.8 billion wasted on excess energy costs each year in the U.S. alone.

On a CO2 basis, that's 20 million tons of carbon dioxide, about the amount produced by 4 million cars on the road.

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/130078

[Slightlydelic]

hardware wise the best thing you can do for your computer is to turn it on and leave it on, the biggest risk of failure is in the spinning up and warming up of the components that is a fact.

obviously not good for your wallet or the environment, but computer hardware wise, its the best thing to do.

[Android Bishop]

You mean I can turn it OFF?!?!?

[ChiDJ]

Always on.

[nowtime]

My Powerbook I turned off and on everyday for over 3 years. No problems no failures, worked like a charm.

My MBP I usually just put it to sleep. I do reboot every few days because it seems things start getting wonky. Could be the peripheral monitor, screen, mouse...who knows. Reboot and everything is tight.

Damn pulsating nightlight! I have to cover my lappy when it's sleeping at night. Anyway to shut that damn thing off?

[stallos]

jeez, any environmentalist would go crazy reading this thread!
i shut my machines down each night - saves you money aswell as the planet!

on UK tv theres a lot of ads on right now about not wasting power and doing your bit for climate change
doesnt sound like anyone gives a monkeys

[porfiry]

If you think it's good for your operating system to let it run run run you obviously don't know much about computers.
Computers run on electricity, which is generated mainly from burning fossil fuels, which are destroying our planet.
When you're not using your computer you need to switch it OFF, not standby, OFF.

You really only hurt the cause when you get up people's ass like this.

[jamesp]

I think the obsession with leaving computers on is a technical anachronism, like screen savers. If I turn mine on four times in a day, I turn it off four times too. It boots-up in well under 30 seconds, and I've got multiple drives for backups and ghosts. Anymore I don't think spinning up is as much of a wear factor as consistent heat. And IME, PCs like to be turned off.

The power company put a smart meter on my house a couple months ago, but they haven't got the customer web interface sorted yet. I'm looking forward to a week or two of geeking out on my consumption numbers.

[H20nly]

If you think that leaving a hard disk on doesn't cause wear and tear then you've got a "self regulating" engine in your car that needs to be on right now. Get out there and start your fucking car!

Piss on what the OS likes. If you loose your hard drive you'll be the one pissed on. Your O.S. can be reinstalled. Hard drives are measured by mean time to failure and are subject to wear and tear just like blenders, transmissions, and electric toothbrushes.

You don't have to be a slave to it and if its on for a few days here and there so what, but if you're not using it, turn that shit off. At least you'll know when it broke if it fries during boot time. Also if you start to smell that burning odor you can look into it if you're around. How you gonna do that while on holiday at the coast?

Edit: Just to clarify... If you want to leave your computer running for what ever reason by all means that's your choice. Just don't lie to yourself (or anyone else) and think that wear and tear isn't happening because of it.

[Martyn]

If you think it's good for your operating system to let it run run run you obviously don't know much about computers.
Computers run on electricity, which is generated mainly from burning fossil fuels, which are destroying our planet.
When you're not using your computer you need to switch it OFF, not standby, OFF.

+1

Never heard of an OS running better the longer you leave it on, you'd expect it to have the same shit-hot performance whether you leave it on or turn it off, if it's set up right and the user knows what they're doing. Leaving it on and burning all that energy for nothing and thinking you're getting a performance incease is laughably dumb, imho. Wasteful and dumb.

[mholloway]

it sleeps, sure, but it's 'on'

[Martyn]

^^ Just to add to my above comment, if you've ever messed around with virtualization and seen how whole operating systems can be turned on and off and saved just like programs, not being able to turn an OS off for fear of losing a bit of performance seems even more crazy.

It's hard to not see virtualization as the future really, especially as hardware is gettig WAY more powerful than the software running on it.

[gjm]

Always turn off here. I hate walking through the house in the wee hours on the way to take a wizz and seeing all the little annoying l.e.d's. It hurts.

[macmurphy]

If you think it's good for your operating system to let it run run run you obviously don't know much about computers.
Computers run on electricity, which is generated mainly from burning fossil fuels, which are destroying our planet.
When you're not using your computer you need to switch it OFF, not standby, OFF.

+1

Never heard of an OS running better the longer you leave it on, you'd expect it to have the same shit-hot performance whether you leave it on or turn it off, if it's set up right and the user knows what they're doing. Leaving it on and burning all that energy for nothing and thinking you're getting a performance incease is laughably dumb, imho. Wasteful and dumb.

+1 & +1

I always turn it off. It's just plain idiotic to leave things on when you're not using them.