power off or leave on my computer on overnight?

SAVE ENERGY...

Have it hilbernate.

Yes I do, for months and Internet running. Computers on idle don't use much electricity. They only do when Processor-intensive tasks are done. At night, just turn off the monitor, especially if it's a CRT. It uses a lot of electricity. If you're leaving the computer and coming back in about an hour or two, just leave it on. Computer hard drives are designed to keep spinning. The more spin-ups and spin-downs will reduce it's life. Computers running for years straight will have a longer life (as long as there's enough ventilation) compared to one that's always turned off and on. But overnight is quite long, so you can turn yours off if you want.

Actually, most people... who know what they are talking about advise not to shut off the computer all the time. Only restart when you have to or about every couple days. Leaving it on will not hurt anything. You can shut it down overnight if you want.. It really won't matter that much. But don't shut it down if you will be back in a couple hours and use it again. So running it all day and leaving it off at night is fine. Both really are. So basically long as you aren't shutting it down and turning it on 5 times a day there is nothing to worry about.

You can easily type your question in and see both sides to it and make your own judgement.

I personally leave mine on and let it hibernate. I only restart/shutdown when I need to.

Hibernate is usually the best option. But it is good to shut it down every once in a while. About once a week or so, just not every night. There was studies done one this, and it doesn't seem to matter whether you leave it on or turn it off, The Life is about the same either way

The general consensus from experts and PC magazine editors is:

TURN YOUR PC OFF OVERNIGHT

The reasons are

(1) allows your CPU to cool down and the fan to stop & cool.

(2) prevents any damage from spikes or surges if a storm

comes up while you are sleeping.

(3) reduces power bills since many PC's areoperating on

230 volt power supply.

(4) perhaps lengthens the life of your hard drive which is

spinning at 6000 revolutions per minute.

Nevertheless some users leave their PC's on continually, saying that the on and off operation is more hazardous. These folks are in the minority, according to PC mag.

Hibernate is usually the best option.... however it is good to shut it down occasionally... maybe once a week or so, just not every night. There have been studies done one this, and it doesn't seem to matter whether you leave it on or turn it off, the life seems to be the same either way

The most convenient way IMO is hibernation. It completely shuts down the computer and stops wasting energy (unlike standby) and you can continue right where you left off, without opening up all your programs again.

While the computer is on, fans are running, and dust is getting sucked into the case.

I have a friend that leaves his on 27/7. When he brings it over for any work, I have to first roll it outside & hit it with air. I always get a huge cloud of dust out of it - way more than I ever get out of mine, which I turn off at night.

Just shut it down. You're obviously not using it, and letting it run in standby is still a waste of energy. Hibernating just wastes temporary disk space.

Computers tend to get out of date before the machine really wear out, so I suggest shutting it down when not using, at least we know that we conserve energy and save the earth.

If it's a desktop and you're not doing anything with it at night (ie, downloading stuff, converting video, etc.), shut it down. It'll increase computer life (just slightly) and reduce your power bill.