Should I Shut Down My PC At Night?

Wed Jan 31, 2007 4:18PM EST

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Reader Jason writes: Is it better to leave a computer on all the time or shut it off when you done? If I leave it on, what settings (like hibernate) should I use?

Years ago the conventional wisdom was that leaving your computer on all the time would allow it to last longer before a crash. The culprit: Your hard drive. Frequent starts and stops would cause your hard drive mechanism to wear out much faster than if the drive never spun down. An old saying (possibly apocryphal) was that stopping and restarting a hard drive was the same as eight hours of regular running time.

I talked to the good folks at Seagate to find out if things had changed. According to the company, starting and stopping is not a huge problem with drives any more, and they can be safely shut off and on in order to save power. According to Seagate, you can expect a drive to last for three to five years of running time before dying, though obviously many drives last longer.

What's the big factor that causes drives to die early? Heat, says Seagate. Ensuring your computer stays cool through the proper use of fans is far and away the best thing you can do to keep your drive healthy. I'd imagine that shutting it down when not in use will only help. Naturally, shutting down your computer will also conserve electricity, so unless there's a compelling reason to leave it on (as with a server), you should probably shut down at night.

So, how should you shut down properly? It's completely up to you, really. If you do a full "Shut Down" (or "Turn Off Computer") your computer will be completely off, using no power at all. "Hibernate" and "Standby" are lower-power states that allow you to resume quickly into the Windows desktop. Standby simply powers down hardware components like the hard drive, monitor, and peripherals, but continues to provide power to RAM, so everything you were doing stays active. Hibernate is closer to a shut down: It saves an exact image of your Windows desktop, then powers the PC down. When you awaken from hibernation, everything is back where you last had it. Personally I'm not a big fan of hibernate, because if I'm going to shut Windows down completely I like to reload everything fresh into RAM, which helps system stability. I tend to use both standby (for shorter times away from my PC) and shut down (for more than a few hours of downtime) instead.

Comments on Should I Shut Down My PC At Night?

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  • 26 Posted by johnohan on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:39PM EDT Report Abuse

    Hi again, another way to open "Device Manager" (see above) is in RUN type "devmgmt.msc" without the quotes. Another tip: many times updating your video card's driver to the latest version helps with power-saving modes. Go to your video card's maker web site and download latest driver.

  • 27 Posted by tehoese on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:59PM EDT Report Abuse

    I have my computer set up to run updates and daily antivirus program in the wee hours of the morning. That's why it's on 24/7.

  • 28 Posted by tedj9@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:59PM EDT Report Abuse

    I was told that evne logging off will not let the viral scans do their job, so on the nite it is to run, I don't log off, I leave it on all nite, and the viralscan is done by the time I get back to it .

  • 29 Posted by freddy77459 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:03PM EDT Report Abuse

    Shutting Down your PC At Night keeps hackers away. Turn off modem when you not using the net. ty

  • 30 Posted by llouisp on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:55PM EDT Report Abuse

    I am more concerned about the power supplies plugged into the power strip overheating and melting down when unattended. Any thought on this?

  • 31 Posted by tinkiebella46 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:10PM EDT Report Abuse

    When we try to shut our computer down it freezes when logging out of windows . We then have to shut it off manually. Anyone got any suggestions why this happens?

  • 32 Posted by papill0n134 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:59PM EDT Report Abuse

    An easy way to open device manager in XP, is to hit start then my computer. Point your curser on a blank area within the box and right click. Another box will open, click properties. When the window opens, click the hardware tab, then device manager. If hackers can get to your computer then you should do something about it. Turning off at night or turning off the modem is not a fix for hackers! It is the users preference to shut down or leave on, common sense, if it is not on, it can't run scans or updates. You can't drive your car if you don't turn it on first. I can't believe some of these posts...

  • 33 Posted by essohome on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:56PM EDT Report Abuse

    Interesting "Stuff". One item I have not seen mentioned on "Shutting Down" Versus Standby or Hibernation to a lesser point is the drain on the CMOS battery from each cold start. I always use to shut down completely when I bought my first PC and that old 286 is the only computer I have ever had to change the CMOS battery on, not only was it a pain to change (The battery had soldered connections) But to get the BIOS settings back to factory settings (I had taken notes on the settings previous THX) was no mean task. On Power consumption at around 350 watts (Full Power) much, much less on Standby or Hibernation the cost is not that much, but what does use a lot of power (Old Cathode Monitors are bad) is your Monitor. If you work in an air conditioned office, your left on monitor can increase your air conditioning cost tremendously.

  • 34 Posted by ez_ridermama on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:57PM EDT Report Abuse

    Thanks Christoper, the article on turning the computer on or off at night helped, another question to go along with that - if computer is left on can anyone get into it - like hackers or anyone else from anywhere else? Just wanted to know if that is possible? Thanks

  • 36 Posted by dlether on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:45PM EDT Report Abuse

    The hard drive is not the reason why people were advised to leave computers up in the old days. It was the power supply. By cycling the power supply the power supply was more prone to failure and sending out spurious voltages to all of the components that could cause damage to them as well.

  • 37 Posted by ronald1-25@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:49PM EDT Report Abuse

    Hello !!! a friend gave me his old mac pc because he bougth a new one but the one he gave me is asking me for a password but he forgot his password so my question is ...Is there any way that i can unlock this comp or should i just throw it away??? Thank you

  • 38 Posted by jeditheskyisblue on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:31PM EDT Report Abuse

    I have a laptop I shut it down everynight and if I'm going to leave the laptop at home when I go out. I just shut down the lid on the laptop when I have to do something at home and then come back. I'm not sure if it goes into Stand by are hibernation? My question was is it okay to put the laptop in Standby or hibernation more then once a day?

  • 39 Posted by vivalaporte on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:36PM EDT Report Abuse

    Thanks for the tips on shutting down or leaving the PC powered up. I've heard many pro and cons both ways. I have 5 systems at home, 2 laptops and 3 desktops. One of my systems was purchased in 1990. It still has the original harddrive in it. I always power down the system. I've had to replace power supplies twice and fan motors 4 times, and maybe a couple of CMOS batteries. Parts wear out. Heat wears them out quicker, especially fans that run 24/7. If you sell computers, of course you will advise people to leave them on. I see more harddrives bite the dust at work on a network that is never shut down. Wonder why? LB

  • 40 Posted by z_n_2006z on Thu Sep 3, 2009 11:02PM EDT Report Abuse

    listen, i have worked on electronics since the early 60s, and one factor that damages and destroys electronic components is the power surge when the equipment is turned on.... this is a major factor in failures of any device... i was really surprised to see your answer, and i must assume that you didn't check with an electrical engineer... the issue of the hard drive is minute compared to the abundance of electronics throughout a computer... if you want to gain a better knowledge of the issues involved, ask someone who has a large computer system if they power everything down when they aren't using it, for the weekend, for instance... you might change your mind about what the correct answer is for the "average" home computer user... bottom line, the less stress created on electronic components, the longer they will operate before failing!

  • 41 Posted by geturmom on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:08PM EDT Report Abuse

    how do i get outlook express from coming up when i want to e-mail an article? i used to have people pc but don`t anymore but it comes up how do i stop it and get my current carrier to

  • 42 Posted by psytechned on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:21PM EDT Report Abuse

    im agree on that thebiggest pc problems is power surge and cheap power supply units the only way to extends the pc life is to get some really workin surge suppresor or better some line conditioner / stabilizer

  • 43 Posted by frank_hickey44 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:03PM EDT Report Abuse

    i always leave on but turn off the screen at night.dont think it uses much electricity.

  • 44 Posted by renjac on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:36PM EDT Report Abuse

    Thanks, I was wondering the same thing :)

  • 45 Posted by tth0012001 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:23PM EDT Report Abuse

    Will never understand,the Hi-tech of these Desktops and Laptops why they run hot and over time will fry hard drives.All these companies putting out these state of art/PCs/Laptops/new/used/refurbished systems. Don't understand.

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