[24hoursupport] Re: Is it okay to never shut computers down?
- From: "Douglas O." <dsoliver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: 24hoursupport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 13:24:47 -0700
This said and well received, it is important to remember that the greatest
power
surge, I believe, comes from turning off and on the monitor. This is why it
used to be suggested that one turn on the monitor before turning on the rest of
the computer. Now we have to also take into consideration the laser printer.
It often powers up to several thousand volts. That too will cause a possibly
large surge. How a surge suppresser fits into this mix, I'm not exactly sure
since it protects from external surges. Any thoughts on these surge issues?
-- d
Ron Allen wrote:
>>At work, manager hates it when we shut down computers. Outside of the
>>fact
>>that we could save electricity by shutting down the comps, should we just
>>leave them on continuously? Pros/cons? Thanks.
>>
>
>
> Hello Lene,
>
> As others have said, this is a point that, for some reason, seems to
> generate a lot of debate. I can, therefore, only give you my opinion on the
> matter with the reasoning behind why this is my opinion.
>
> To state it simply, leave the computer on all the time but, if possible,
> have the hard drives and, especially, the monitor set to turn off after an
> hour or less, or simply turn the monitor off when leaving but leave the
> computer turned on.
>
> Now to explain this point of view.
>
> First, a traditional CRT monitor is by far the most power-hungry component
> in any computer system. Having the monitor turned off saves considerable
> electricity. It just makes sense to have the monitor turned off when the
> computer is not in use.
>
> Second, solid-state electronics do not suffer "wear and tear" or "aging" as
> fast when they are either powered up or powered down. The process that
> "ages" solid-state components the most is the power surge that happens when
> the power is first applied and, to a generally lesser degree, when power is
> removed. Add to this the fact that solid-state electronics operate best
> within a certain operating temperature, and so keeping the computer always
> "warmed up and ready to go" provides not only the benefit of avoiding the
> most damaging process you can put it through but also keeps it ready to go
> at the most efficient temperature at all times.
>
> Third, disk drives are not entirely solid-state. Drives are virtually the
> only parts in computers that have moving parts. This is perhaps the most
> debatable point in this entire discussion, because many seem to think that
> the wear of being in constant use is less harmful than the process of
> spinning the disks up to speed and many others seem to believe the reverse.
> I'm torn on this myself, but after long consideration I believe that any
> mechanical part in continual use is more likely to fail than the same part
> in use only when needed, despite the added burden of spinning up to speed
> turning it off may entail.
>
> Many computers, especially older computers with older BIOS programs and
> operating systems, can not correctly go into hibernation and shut down the
> hard drives and monitor, or (more commonly) they can go into hibernation
> correctly but can't "wake up" correctly. If the computer is capable of it,
> I suggest using power management to turn the monitor and hard disks off
> after a certain time of non-use, generally I use 30 minutes on the monitor
> and 45 minutes on the hard drives. If the computer is not capable of waking
> up properly, then I would still suggest that leaving it on 24/7 and
> physically turning the monitor off when leaving for lunch or overnight is a
> better compromise than turning the whole unit off.
>
> Sorry there isn't a cut and dried answer for you on this.
>
> Ron
>
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>
>
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