Keeping the computer on?

I keep mine on 24/7 except for severe storms or when I expect to be away for extended periods of time.

I have my PC set to power to standby the monitor and itself after so many minutes of no keyboard/mouse activity. The monitor will go to standby first, the the HD will turn off.

So compare the power required that you use to power totally on both computer and monitor to the power required to just come out of standby/hibernate each time.

Ron

It's indeed a huge waste of electricity. I think that the problem is that most people just don't know their computer has more states than just "on" and "off". It's very easy to configure a computer to automatically turn off the screen, the hard drive and then to enter hibernation mode. Hibernation mode is very useful, because the user's session is saved to the disk and then the computer is turned off, consuming almost no power at all (because most power supplies still consume power even when the computer is completely off). When the computer is turned back on, the session is restored and people can continue working right where they left off. Restoring from hibernation is about 2 or 3 times faster than a complete boot.

And for those people who don't turn off their computers because they take too long to boot: Clean up your operating system!

I download a lot of anime, so by the time I get home, I can watch it. If I were to turn my computer off, when I get home, I would have to turn it on, and then wait forever to download something before watching it. Yes there are those free website which stream anime so I dont have to download it, but then other people I know with slow internet connections wont be able to watch it.

Another reason is that I have my computer set up so it is remotely accessible, so I can access it when Im away from the house. If my computer was off, I would have to call someone (if they are at home) to turn it on, or just not go on it at all.

It might actually be a CPU fan malfunction... If the CPU fan isn't at full power, or isn't working at all, the computer will shut off without warning. It could be an overheating issue as well (related to the above), make sure the computer isn't stuffed into a corner or placed next to a heat source.

I generally keep my computer on all day. I may use it somedays more than others, but I methodically turn it on in the morning and turn it off in the evening. It helps me because whenever I need to use it at some random point in the day, I don't need to go through all the process of turning it on. Anyway, if you keep the computer asleep when you don't use it (I do) you don't really waste any electricity.

I have one server (a web and email server) running at all times. Another computer runs at all times because I may want to access it when I'm away from it. (I just copied a backup of a computer where I'm at for the day to it.) My laptops get turned off when I'm traveling. (I've found that computers usually fail at turn-on, so the fewer times they're turned on, the better.)

Theres not a reason to leave your computer on when nobody is around to use it. Its about convenience, why waite the 30secs its going to take to turn it on when your only going to be gone for 5mins. Now if your going to be gone for 2 days, it still wont matter because these days computers will put themselves to sleep so the amount of energy it uses is minimal anyway.

Its like saying why leave your clocks plugged in when your not looking at them, the time is always going to be the same on your watch.

Plenty of good reasons to shut your PC down have all ready been posted. That said, shutting down and restarting your PC does put stress on your system (pretty much the hard drive(s) ) Not really a good enough reason to not shut your PC down when its not in use. But you probably don't want to power it down every time you walk away from it for 5 minutes either.

Just leave it it...It dosent suck that much when not being used you set all kind fo power setting to have it go into standby and what not but those are more hassle then they are worth. Anyways do whatever you feel comfortable with and dont ask about it on yahoo lol.

it's a waste.....

most people will put it to sleep or hibernate....or just shut the monitor off

if you use your computer 24/7 then leave it on i guess

just make sure you clean the dust on a regular basis