Restarting

[bluemicrobyte]

With Windows XP Home, is it better to turn off and restart your computer often (once or twice a day) or is it better to just use sleep mode, and restart once ever week or so

[WeekendLazyness]

It really doesn't matter. There's really no point to randomly restart your computer, shutting it down every day will work. I turn it off every night to save power, but that's just what sleep mode does. Plus by restarting, it flushes the memory every day, so my comptuer isn't filled wiht digital gunk at the end of the week.

It's really just personal preference, there's no substantial evidence to support which state is better fo you to put your computer in at the end of the day.

[bluemicrobyte]

Yes, I know the technical details, and I turn off my computer every night too. But I'm just wondering if theres a "recomended" or optimal way of handling your computers power.

[Carnage]

Sleep mode every night. I haven't restarted or shut off my computer in months. :P

[Neo]

I just assume leave it on.

I used to have it sleep, but it can be hard on the hard drive (That is if sleeping cuases your HD to "spin down" thats not really good for it)

I do have the monitor go out after 15~ minutes though...

-Neo

[bluemicrobyte]

I just assume leave it on.

I used to have it sleep, but it can be hard on the hard drive (That is if sleeping cuases your HD to "spin down" thats not really good for it)

I do have the monitor go out after 15~ minutes though...

-NeoI didnt know sleep mode could damage your computer

Sleep mode every night. I haven't restarted or shut off my computer in months. :PAnd you havn't noticed the slightest hinderance in performance? Try restarting now and tell me if it runs better.

[WeekendLazyness]

Yes, I know the technical details, and I turn off my computer every night too. But I'm just wondering if theres a "recomended" or optimal way of handling your computers power.
As I said before, no. Sleep mode uses about the same amount of power as a powered off computer. So it's really just personal preference.

Sleep mode doesn't ruin your computer.
I used to have it sleep, but it can be hard on the hard drive (That is if sleeping cuases your HD to "spin down" thats not really good for it)
That's not true. Why would something it was designed to do be bad for it?


If you use XP, type this into IE for a overview on options:
ms-its:C:\WINDOWS\Help\pwrmn.chm::/pwrmn_managing_power.htm

Note: Change WINDOWS to WINNT on other NT systems.

[Whiteknight]

As I said before, no. Sleep mode uses about the same amount of power as a powered off computer. So it's really just personal preference.

Sleep mode doesn't ruin your computer.

That's not true. Why would something it was designed to do be bad for it?
It's designed to do it for a short time, not a long time.

Another thing that Windows has that the creators are trying to push down is a "memory leak". I don't know all the details, but basically there is a rotating loop that continually plays in a windows computer if it is left on for something like a day. This eventually uses up some things that it normally doesn't, slowing down your computer substantially and possibly wrecking it. It is okay to leave your computer on for a day, but make sure you at least shut it down when you get back on in the morning. Shutting it down fixes this. If you heard your computer start to whir constantly, then shut it down, the loops is using that up.

Here is a site I found quickly:

http://bugs.mysql.com/bug.php?id=542

[hammocksleeper]

I can't fucking stand it when the computer starts to do shit and I didn't tell it to. Out of nowhere, completely random the HD will start working, the computer slows down, I hate it. But I'm on Win98 so the memory leak that you put in the link doesn't apply to me.

[Whiteknight]

I can't fucking stand it when the computer starts to do shit and I didn't tell it to. Out of nowhere, completely random the HD will start working, the computer slows down, I hate it. But I'm on Win98 so the memory leak that you put in the link doesn't apply to me.
Actually, it applies even more. They were able to partially slow down the problem, but Windows 98 is even worse for that. I could give you a link to that too, if you would like.

[WeekendLazyness]

Whiteknight, I don't see how that memory leak bug you referenced applies to most of us as most of us don't have MySQL installed. Also, XP is very good at memory management, and memory leakage really isn't a problem.

[bluemicrobyte]

So it really won't affect my computer in the long run if i put it to sleep or turn it off?

[SexForTwo]

You waste more power by putting it in sleep mode. :D

I don't think it makes a difference. Though restarting it once in a while will free up RAM if you want to keep using it.

[bluemicrobyte]

I don't care about power, but freeing up RAM is a good thing.... right? (jk)

[Whiteknight]

Whiteknight, I don't see how that memory leak bug you referenced applies to most of us as most of us don't have MySQL installed. Also, XP is very good at memory management, and memory leakage really isn't a problem.
Oops, wrong link. I'll fix that sometime tomorrow. :o

It's not that it is a memory leak, it is that it is a playback loop that causes your computer to play a small thing over and over, etc, until your everything is being used up and your computer is slowing down.

Safe thing: Just turn it off once in a while.

[bluemicrobyte]

ya i thought that link made no sense, fix it please.

[Seal]

Depends on where the computer is located, and how much electricity costs.
Around here, it doesn't really mattter, is my comp on overnight, because it doesn't cost that much more.

Computers dont tend to use that much power when doing nothing, and that's what they do when left on.

But, if you sleep next to the comp, the fan could disrupt you, but if you want, you can get used to it ;)

[Graeme]

I haven't turned off or reset the computer I use as a server for probably over a year now. No problems with it whatsoever.

As far as I know, it's more healthy for your computer to leave it on all the time, than to shut it down and start it up numerous times. A computer hardware guy came into my CompSci class last year and told us that it was harder on the circuits to have no electricity, than suddenly a burst of electricity from startup (repeating this several times). So I've pretty much followed that philosophy since.

Of course, I do reset every once in a while just in case there's bad RAM, or I need to reset due to upgrades, installations and whatnot.

[Exedore]

Basically what Radlin said. Only shut it down if you won't be using it for an extended period of time, such as turning it off before you go to sleep and then turning it on when you get back from work, or if you go on vacation. When your computer is idling, the power consumption isn't all that high, especially if you turn off your speakers and monitor (especially CRT's).

[Neo]

Uhm. If your hard drive is being continually spun down and restarted (iE: through something like sleep mode) it is really hard on the HD.

I cant pull links out of thin air now, but its not some false thing I pulled out of the ether.

Though nowadays it probably only applies to older HDs, but generally its not good for the HD to spin down/up at odd times. Its better to leave it spinning (how do you think a 10,000 rpm server HD works? Servers are up without restarts for months at a time!)

Heres a topic: http://www.geekculture.com/ultimatebb/Forum12/HTML/000536.html

I cant remember where I saw an actualy article on this problem, but theres some good info there, especially from a couple of the posters.

Windows, even MacOS, arent gods you know, there are plenty of things that each do, or have done, that is actually more damaging to the computer then youd think t.t

But what it comes down to is this:

If you ARE spinning the disk down, up, down, up, etc... over and over and over again your more likely going to cuase it to fail sooner rather then later.

Basically though, just turn your computer off every night if your that worried about it. I run windows 2000, an extremely stable OS (when not used bye idiots) so therefore i leave it running all the time. I dont experience slow downs, and only really restart when updating windows and such (which seems every update needs to restart the computer t.t)

Unless you have a laptop, theres really no need to use sleep mode. Sleep mode was/is mostly for Notebooks, not Desktops. Just becuase your desktop can be put into Sleep mode doesnt mean you SHOULD put it into sleep mode.

-Neo

[WeekendLazyness]

As far as I know, it's more healthy for your computer to leave it on all the time, than to shut it down and start it up numerous times. A computer hardware guy came into my CompSci class last year and told us that it was harder on the circuits to have no electricity, than suddenly a burst of electricity from startup (repeating this several times). So I've pretty much followed that philosophy since.
Again, I can't see why circuits would fail doing something they are designed to. A burst of electricity will not harm an individual circuit, but a lack of substantial power will. The only time this would come into play is if you either have a PSU not capable of handling the computer at any time, or on startup, when the HDD, optical drives, fans, etc. spin up, sucking a lot of power. Some components may not get the juice they need, damaging them.

And KupaNeo, of course it's not a good idea to constantly spin down your hard disks and spin them back up again. That's just undue wear and tear. Turning your computer off or putting it into sleep only on average once a day will not harm it.

[bluemicrobyte]

Sleep mode was made for desktops and laptops, hibernate was made for laptops.

[Graeme]

Again, I can't see why circuits would fail doing something they are designed to.

So if something is designed to do something, there is no chance that it will eventually die out or fail? All things face wear and tear whether we like it or not, otherwise I'd never have to change a lightbulb ever again in my life ^_~. Sending electricity through anything creates a degree of thermal energy. I would imagine repeatedly heating up the circuits by sending large amounts of energy at the startup of a system would provide some wear and tear.

I'm definitely not a computer hardware guru, so I'm just going off of common sense, and mine may be off a bit :p. I'm just basing my opinions on what a computer techie told me. He builds computers for a living, so I'm pretty comfortable trusting him ^_^.

[bluemicrobyte]

So if something is designed to do something, there is no chance that it will eventually die out or fail? All things face wear and tear whether we like it or not, otherwise I'd never have to change a lightbulb ever again in my life ^_~. Sending electricity through anything creates a degree of thermal energy. I would imagine repeatedly heating up the circuits by sending large amounts of energy at the startup of a system would provide some wear and tear.

I'm definitely not a computer hardware guru, so I'm just going off of common sense, and mine may be off a bit :p. I'm just basing my opinions on what a computer techie told me. He builds computers for a living, so I'm pretty comfortable trusting him ^_^.(USING COMMON SENSE:) wouldn't putting the comp in sleep mode turn off the circuits and wear them out just as if you turned it off and on again? Thusly meaning that off and asleep has the same effect?

[WeekendLazyness]

So if something is designed to do something, there is no chance that it will eventually die out or fail? All things face wear and tear whether we like it or not, otherwise I'd never have to change a lightbulb ever again in my life ^_~. Sending electricity through anything creates a degree of thermal energy. I would imagine repeatedly heating up the circuits by sending large amounts of energy at the startup of a system would provide some wear and tear.
Yes, but five volts at low amperages don't create a lot of heat in indivdual wires. It does happen in processors, but that's why they have heatsinks. Circuits of course do fail, but you phrased it to say that they will fail more quickly by suddenly being energized.

[bluemicrobyte]

.........right, if you say so.....

[WeekendLazyness]

I was talking to Radlin, not you.

[Graeme]

Yes, but five volts at low amperages don't create a lot of heat in indivdual wires. It does happen in processors, but that's why they have heatsinks. Circuits of course do fail, but you phrased it to say that they will fail more quickly by suddenly being energized.

That's pretty much the way the Comp Tech guy made it sound X_x.

[bluemicrobyte]

I was talking to Radlin, not you.but I can still reply cant i?

[Modred]

but I can still reply cant i?

No. :p

I turn off my computer every night before I go to sleep.

If we are going to compare circuits to light bulbs (a really bad comparison to start with anyway):
If you leave a light bulb on constantly, it is true that it might have more net time producing light, however the filament will burn out sooner as it is continually burning. So you must trade an efficient light source for around a week or two or an inefficent source for around a month or more.

Also, if electrical charge from a 60 watt outlett is such a danger, computers could be wired with a few parallel ciruits in which one branch sends its electricity back out of the comp unused, thus lowering the amount of power (but not the amperage) that reaches the circuits. Which brings up another question Radlin. What is the most dangerous to the circuits: Voltage or Amperage?

[Exedore]

Digital circuits don't need a high amperage. The only time you actually get current flow in a microprocessor is when transistors switch and from leakage current.

[bluemicrobyte]

Digital circuits don't need a high amperage. The only time you actually get current flow in a microprocessor is when transistors switch and from leakage current.(um, could you put that in english please?)

[Exedore]

(um, could you put that in english please?)

A transistor is the basis of digital logic. Depending on the voltage applied to its gate, the output will either maintain that voltage, or change it. Most transistors or transistor pairings (for CMOS) use 0V as a logic 0 and some positive voltage as a logic 1.

Because of the set up of digital circuits, the electricity doesn't need to do work, unlike more common electrical circuits such as lightbulbs or electric heaters. Voltage in the electrical circuit is measured instead of current (sometimes called amperage after the measurement system for current). However, when transistors switch between logic 1 and logic 0 states, its actually an analog switch - a smooth curve and not a spike. Because of this, electricity can flow between the source (+Vcc - the voltage supplied to the circuit) and drain (ground), which generates a current along with heat created from the inherent resistance of all materials. However, when the transistor is in a constant state, it doesn't produce a current.

Leakage current is somewhat similar. All materials have an inherent conductance as well. Depending on the amount of insulating material, voltage in the wiring, etc, sometimes electons can seep through the insulating material to a ground and create a very weak electrical current, which creates heat. Additionally, severe leakage current can cause a processor to malfunction.

The reason turning your computer off and on a lot degrades the electrical components is because you're heating up the materials quickly from a relatively cool state. This is a similar concept to how warming and cooling a glass quickly will cause it to shatter easily. The sudden expansion of the materials will cause minute stresses that add up over time and can contribute to potential problems (wires breaking or becoming weak, etc) in the future.

[bluemicrobyte]

oooooo ok ........ i dont get it. I get some of it, and I get the last paragraph, good enough for now