I am constantly asked whether or not it is a good idea to leave one's computer on.  I thought it would be a good idea to make a blog entry on the topic.  So if you are one of my clients who has recently asked me about this, then this post is for you!

First, just to be clear about what we are talking about:  There are two schools of thought when it comes to leaving the power"on" on your computer, or turning it"off" when you leave, or are not going to be using it.   Some people say you should turn your computer off every time you are going to be away from it.  Others say you should leave it on all the time.  In addition, there are a couple of other states in between "on" and"Off", such as "hibernate" and "sleep", and a few others.  Each of these different computer power states has pro's and cons when it comes to your user experience.  At the end of the day, most (but not all) decisions made about your computer come down to what kind of user experience that action is going to provide you with.  Is it going to make things easier and more pleasant or is it going to aggravate you?  And last of all, besides user experience, there are some practical concerns, such as wear and tear.   Which course of action is best?   I'll provide some insight, and you can decide for yourself. 

On vs. Off: Primary Concerns

Today, we live in a world of easy internet access.  For many of us, our internet is always on, and our computer is always connected.  Any time you walk up to your computer, you can click on Mozilla FireFox, or the dreaded Internet Explorer, and bang(!), off you go to your internet destination.    Long gone are the days of logging on, waiting for a clear phone line (remember that old-school AOL clicking and pinging while Dial Up was getting a connection?)  Modern computers are really designed to connect to the internet, and stay connected.  In fact, most computer scientists agree that in the future, pretty much all of our daily computer use will take place on the internet, with very little need for hard drives, and with all of your data, music, movies, and files being saved in the "cloud".


Security

Our internet connections are fast and reliable, but many people do not realize that internet connections are a two-way connection.  So your first consideration about leaving your computer always turned on should be with regards to security.  Do you have a firewall? Is it turned on?  Do you have good internet security and virus protection?  If so, then you are in good shape, and already ahead of many of your peers.  If you have poor internet security, though, you may be subject to being hacked.  When it is night time in America, international hackers are hard at work, using sophisticated software to "ping" thousands of computers per hour, testing and probing to see which ones are unprotected.  While you are asleep, your computer may be probed, and if it is not protected, then tomorrow when you go to work, you may find that your computer has been hacked!  Private data, photos, banking details and passwords may have been stolen.  Worse, you might not even be aware of it until money disappears from your account.  In other cases, the threat might not be hackers seeking money, but rather malicious software and trojans designed to damage your operating system.  So you'd better keep good security protocol, a firewall and a good security suite going at all times!


Maintenance

The other question is whether or not your computer is in good care, and whether or not it needs maintenance.  Are you hearing any weird fan sounds?  Has your computer been sluggish?  Maybe the reason you want to keep your computer turned on all the time is because of the amount of time it takes to boot up in the morning?  If so, then you should stop reading the blog right now, and call me for a Tune Up. Your decision on whether or not to shut down at the end of the day should not be based on the fact that boot up is slow.  That's ignoring a real problem and it may end up costing you even more time and money since you are deferring the maintenance.  If you're hearing funny sounds, beeps, getting a frozen computer from time to time, or getting random errors and shut downs, your computer is not in the state of maintenance it should be in.  Contact me, and let's get that fixed before you go on.  Funny buzzing or strange noises, for instance, could be a sign that dust has plugged up your computer's cooling system, in which case you are risking permanent and devastating destruction to your processor, graphics card, or motherboard!  Once your computer has been properly brought to a high state of maintenance, it is ready to serve you, and you are ready to decide which power plan you are going to follow.


$$$ :Dollars and Sense

The next question you should ask yourself when making this decision is how long you plan on being away from your computer every day.  Generally, if you're going to be away for more than 12 consecutive  hours, it's probably a good idea to fully shut down.  This premise is based on the fact that there are 24 hours in a day; if your computer is not going to be used for half of that time, it really doesn't need to be left on to begin with.  Even with today's lower power computers, 12 hours sitting idle and continuously drawing power is wasteful, if nothing else.  If your office has 6 computer running for 12 hours per night- with zero use- plus an additional 48 hours on the weekends, between all those computers, you're burning about an extra $600 per year in useless night time  electricity consumption.  Keep in mind, that's extra, meaning it does not include the legitimate energy being used during the work-day.  In other words, assuming you've got 6 idle computers running 24-7, you can easily cut $600 from the budget just by powering down every day.  But for some of you, it gets even more interesting: if you power down at 5p.m., and don't power up until 9 a.m. the next day, guess what?  Those 6 computers are not running 12 hours, they're running 16 hours per day, unattended... which is an additional 25%.  In such a case, the total waste is now $800 +/- per year.  And again, that's legitimate waste, an expense on top of your ordinary day to day electric bill.  Economically it probably makes sense to turn your machines off at the end of the day.

Other Considerations
So, you like the idea of saving money on your electric bill?  Great.  Ah, but unfortunately your decision cannot be made so easily!  Even though I've just made the case for shutting down every day, there are other things you must weigh before deciding on your power strategy.  Here they are in no particular order.

• Back Ups.  Do you back up your computer at night?  If so, power down will not be an option for you.  If you still want to try to power down, maybe you could think about backing up weekly, or coming to some other arrangements.  Some of my clients back up their systems during the middle of the work day- but their systems are fast enough that they don't really notice any performance loss when the back-up starts.
• Network.  Do you, or your employees need access to your system at unusual hours?  If so, powering down will not be an option.
• Updates.  If you are continuously running Windows Update every night (which I strongly advise you AVOID DOING) as well as virus definitions,  then your system will need to stay on until those updates are completed.

The WEAR AND TEAR Argument
Does your computer wear out prematurely if you leave it on all the time?  Or, as some have said, is it the act of powering down and powering back up that kills your computer?  As it turns out, there are some interesting answers to those questions. 

Originally, the idea of leaving your computer on continuously was well founded.  Computers produce heat, and specifically your processor and graphics card can get very hot.  Turning the thing on and off causes expansion and contraction.  Just like a sidewalk, early computer parts were prone to developing fissures and cracks.  Fortunately, today's computers have come a long way, and they are much more robust- particularly when dissipating heat and retaining their shape when going through heating and cooling cycles.  Parts are just made better.  Thus, if you have a modern computer, and if is being maintained properly (like keeping the dust cleaned up every few months), then you should have nothing to worry about.

There are distinct advantages to powering down and back up again, and it has everything in the world to do with performance. 


RAM ISSUES

Throughout the day, as you work, your computer will utilize and allocate your RAM memory to different tasks.  RAM, as we know, is a finite resource in your computer, and once it is full of data (as a result of a busy day at the computer, for example), your computer can become impossibly slow as it struggles to process new information without kicking out the old data.  Because of glitches in software and engineering quirks, no matter how expensive or well maintained your computer might be, sometimes it simply needs to be shut down and restarted in order to clear its memory and make that memory available once again for new applications.  In addition, many maintenance tasks performed in the background require your computer to be restarted in order to take effect.


THE OFFICE PC.. I mean vacuum cleaner... I mean PC... errrr...

The other problem with leaving your computer on all the time is the dreaded dust bunny! Computers are constantly sucking air through them to cool down components. At the same time, they're pulling dust, dead skin, cat or dog hair, smoke particles, fluff and dust balls inside the case, and depositing them on the components. Remember, too, that we're talking electrical components- which develop an electrical charge- which causes dust to stick to them.  This has a tendency to insulate the components and add to the heat build up, and overheating can have a very detrimental effect on your computer's components. Leaving your computer on all the time will only add to the amount of debris collected inside.

LIFE OF A HARD DRIVE

Besides everything else we've covered, every component has a life cycle rating.  This is the amount of hours a component is supposed to get- statistically- before it fails.  You can truly relax, since most parts today are designed to operate for many thousands of hours.  So the life-cycle of a component will usually far outlast a user's desire to keep using it.  Odds are that your computer- if properly maintained- will long outlive your own desire to keep it.  It's likely that newer, faster, and more exciting models will be released, causing you to retire your older machines- even if they work just fine.  So, powering down, or leaving the machine on all the time - parts won't know the difference.


At the end of the day, the choice to leave your computer on all the time is up to you.  But because of today's faster machines, more robust parts, quicker boot up times, and because of the options available (for instance to run back-ups at various intervals)  there are fewer reasons to leave the computer running non-stop 24/7.  In fact, there are more reasons to shut down than not.  Consider saving the planet, hugging a tree, cutting your electric bill, keeping out hackers, and helping the little polar bears keep their ice caps.  And if that doesn't work, then just think of the nasty dust collection you'll be gathering at double the rate, if you don't shut down.  And if none of that will convince you to shut down at night, then keep this page bookmarked, so you can contact me to service your machine on a much greater frequency thanks to usage habits.  I won't complain.  I promise!