Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

constant running

Aug 13, 2005 6:03PM PDT

is it really bad for a desktop to be running overnight?

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Re: constant running
Aug 13, 2005 6:30PM PDT

I leave my computer on all the time. During the night I have set a number of programs to search for updates and schedule automatic maintenance during my sleep hours. I have my monitor set to turn of after 10 minutes to conserve energy. I have never experienced a problem that could be related to being always on. I am connected to the internet via cable and have my firewall and AV apps running to prevent intrusion by malwareHappy

- Collapse -
There are many opinions
Aug 13, 2005 10:13PM PDT

on the turn it off/leave it on issue.

Just a question.
If you leave it on what do you do when a big thunder storm comes rolling through in the middle of the night?

- Collapse -
eh, things will wear down
Aug 14, 2005 1:35AM PDT

but can be replaced. power supplies will most likely die first. think of your hard drive being on all the time, although i know it hurts it more with the start up shut down phase. your fans will get warned down.

DUST will be collected inside your pc faster and thus clogging fans, components on the mobo, and creating an insulating barrier on the mobo, which creates even more heat.

think of the power your wasting, your electric bill.

yeah, i leave my pc on overnight every once in awhile, but usually, it's because i forget to turn it off. i have had it run for weeks w/o shutting it down. so in the end it's up to you, and i really don't care what you do with it. Wink

konny

- Collapse -
Re: constant running
Aug 14, 2005 5:25AM PDT