Do you leave your computer on all the time?

There are times that i have to leave my computer on overnight, especially if am downloading something, or there are some scripts that i need to run for my online biz. I leave it ON but i check it from time to time. We don't know what could happened the entire night, leaving the computer ON. And i think its not good if you do it everyday making your pc busy 24/7. You also have to rest it for a while. Speaking of hibernation, your pc don't d o it automatically, you have to set it. If i leave my pc own overnight, i turn off the monitor, to at least save electricity. :)

I sometimes leave my laptop on all night, but just close the screen. Hubby turns off his desktop everynight. I have heard you save electricity by turning it off, but I don't think it uses that much, so I don't worry about it.

Depends on how old the computer is. If you have a computer than starts to struggle after about seven hours of use(or just seven hours of being on), you may as well shut it down. Especially if it is prone to freezing.

I turn my computer on in the morning and off when I go to bed. Turning it offat night helps dump some of the clutter that accumlates in the memory.

usually when i must go away for a short period of time and have something to download -i leave it on. But if i will miss for more- allways off.

Yes we do, but we log off

We leave our computer on all the time but shut off the monitor when we go to bed at night to save on a bit of power this way . I am not sure if it actually saves any on the power or not by only shutting off the monitor but I like it when it is dark and don't see any need to leave it on all night . I have always been told that if you shut your computer down each night that it is actually harder on your computer . I am not sure if this is true or not but don't like having to get up and wait for it to load everything all over again , so we leave ours on all the time unless it starts acting up and needs a reboot .

I think when we are not using the computer for a longer duration, it would be better to switch it off. Switching off the computer will surely save the electricity. But if you are away from computer say for 5 minutes or so then you can leave it as it is.

I am not so sure what good will it do to the PC if you do not shut it down. I normally shut down all my computers everyday. If I don't shut down, then I would leave them to hibernate. I have never left them running overnight or idle for a long time.

actually I dont know, as for me I usually turn it off, but I also have some friends who likes to let their PC almost on everyday (22-23 hours a day), and I see no problems with their PC.

Why not simply turn the computer off entirely when it is not in use? It is good option for those who will be away from the computer through out the day, but letting it go to sleep is gentler on the monitor's components for on and off use. Computer consumes power when it is loaded. During hibernation( not switched off condition), it consumes power for indications that displays. However, hibernation is a good idea for families whose internate connection is continuously switched on, because it disconnects the connection, thereby shielding them from hackers. Most computers have the 'hibernate' option. To use it. look for a setting [in control panel] for power saving adjustment.

I usually turn off my pc whenever i am leaving or in a day i make sure it is off for at least two hours. Because i am not only concerned for the electric bill but also for fire hazard safety. I believe even machine need a rest.

I still think it's stupid to leave the computer on when you're not using it. Doing that indicates to me that you have not really understood the impact of the current climate crisis the earth is facing. In Denmark where I live the government is enforcing co2 emission laws, encouraging people to cut energy consumption and thereby cut co2 emission. As a result we've had a huge growth in the alternative energy sector over the last 15 years or so while cutting energy consumption. Exporting alternative energy know-how is now one of our big earners. There's a lot of focus on the climate changes here and the other day I heard on the news that the country with the largest co2 emission per capita is the US. Are you really not concerned with the environment over there?

I don't have the exact idea about the difference, but I usually leave my laptop on for a long time, sometimes almost the whole day until I go to sleep. But some of my friends say it is better to turn it off when it is not used to stop the fan from turning round and getting too hot for the protection of the computer. What do you think?

I was told it's better to leave the computer itself on, not in hibernation though just on, but to turn off the monitor when you won't be on it for a while. It's supposed to be easier on the computer parts not to power up and down. Now turning off the monitor can save you electricity. I do that when I go to bed, turn off the monitor and then turn it on when I get up again. I've noticed it does help with the electric bill but how much I don't know. Hope that helps.

I leave my on all the time as I use it every day. I've been told that it extends the life of the computer to leave it running every day rather than shutting it off as shutting it off and on all the time wears out the hard drive faster. Most companies I have worked for over the years, never shut down their computers over night for the same reason.

Nope, I always turned it off whenever I leave the house. This is to make sure that the we prevent any fire in our area. I've heard in the news lately that hundred's of houses are burnt because of turning the computer ON.

I'm actually one who switches there computer off if I am not using it. I also turn my computer off at work which is something that not all of my colleagues do. It's just a habit I have developed.

For me, i always keep my computer off when i am not using coz i really saves electricity for that. It really depends on you, i think it is just ok to leave your computer 24 hours a day if it does not heat up. But if you are electricity conscious then just turn it off.

When your computer hibernates, it shuts off. It just retains what you were working on, although my internet connection closes. Every little bit of electricity saved is important, because for those who don't know, electricity costs money. The importance of shutting of your computer is that it completely closes off anything you were doing and it "finishes" working. Tech guys always ask if you've tried turning your computer off and then on again, because this completely arbitrary move apparently sets your computer to some kind of standard, like putting things away and organizing them or cleaning them out or something. I really don't know. All I know is so many installation programs ask you to shut off your computer. Plus, when I had my computer left on in order to allow for a very long albeit important download to transfer, the computer would run slower and slower, and even crashed at one point when it had been left on. I'm not sure about the technical aspects, and I don't really care, but apparently your computer needs to "rest", and simply letting it go into sleep mode isn't the same, because it retains all of teh short term memory, which needs to be cleaned out for your computer to perform optimally.