Do I have to turn off computer over night ?

I stand corrected: the PC basically shuts down in Hibernate. I haven't used it because it can cause problems with devices reconnecting when coming out of Hibernate.

paulcardoza wrote:
If the power saver settings are configured to let the unit go into sleep mode, there is no need to power down every night. You just want to be sure the HD is powering to sleep so it isn't spinning 24/7.

A restart every week or two will clear out any programs running that might slow things down, as well as install any new updates.

x2

TInmania wrote:

kaydeejay wrote:

AllegroD wrote:
......................Sorry but first, the HD does not spin constantly. It only activates when it is called upon for data. Sitting over night is not going to make a call................

Dunno what computer you have, but on all three of mine the HD is spinning if the computer is powered up.
I use an automatic "hibernate" after 30 mins of inactivity.
THEN the HD stops.
I also allow Microsoft to install updates automatically.
I get the occasional message that my computer was restarted to allow updates to complete.

While the HD is usually spinning at 4500 or higher RPM on just about any OS it can be set to sleep independent of the machine sleeping or hibernating. For example on Mac OS X the setting is "Put hard disks to sleep when possible" under Energy Saver settings. If the HD is asleep there is a delay before data can be read to or written from as it spins back up.

Nearly always the HD is the slowest part of a PC or mac. I use an SSD on all of my boot drives. They run very fast and root time, even a cold boot, is extremely brief compared to booting from HD.

Mike

You bring up a point here that needs elaboration. It might be that I am in newer computers, Almost all MS OS based computers sold these days start with the "Advanced Power Settings", set for the hard drive(s) to stopping after about 3 minutes on battery or 15 minutes plugged in, of non acvtivity. I am sorry if yours or others are not. This is something you should set, if they are not. My apologies for those on older OS that this may not have been the settings on.

Leave it on. No big deal. If you are worried about power draw then unplug the power cable. Turning off the computer won't stop the transformer from being powered up. How many home pc's are left on? Most of them. It won't hurt it if that's what you are asking. My laptop is left on 24/7 and no issues. Usually it's garbage antivirus that eats up memory and makes it slow.

Ryan

I shut down my computer every night. Even though I have what I think is good Anti-virus software and Malware installed, why leave the computer running 24/7 for potential hackers?

kaydeejay wrote:

AllegroD wrote:
......................Sorry but first, the HD does not spin constantly. It only activates when it is called upon for data. Sitting over night is not going to make a call................

Dunno what computer you have, but on all three of mine the HD is spinning if the computer is powered up.
I use an automatic "hibernate" after 30 mins of inactivity.
THEN the HD stops.
I also allow Microsoft to install updates automatically.
I get the occasional message that my computer was restarted to allow updates to complete.

While the HD is usually spinning at 4500 or higher RPM on just about any OS it can be set to sleep independent of the machine sleeping or hibernating. For example on Mac OS X the setting is "Put hard disks to sleep when possible" under Energy Saver settings. If the HD is asleep there is a delay before data can be read to or written from as it spins back up.

Nearly always the HD is the slowest part of a PC or mac. I use an SSD on all of my boot drives. They run very fast and root time, even a cold boot, is extremely brief compared to booting from HD.




Mike

fj12ryder wrote:
IThere is little current draw when the computer is hibernating, but why even waste that?

This is false. Hibernating draws no power whatsoever. It saves the PC's RAM and other states to hard disk, then the PC shuts off.

Suspending draws power as it keeps RAM refreshed but hibernating is completely off. You can unplug and take out the laptop's battery if you want and when you turn it back on it will right as you left it. It is almost always faster than a complete reboot.




Michael

DKean wrote:
I have a Dell lap top and have been turning it off every night. Is this necessary. It takes a long time to boot up in the morning. I have win 8.1

How long is a long time?

Our laptops just go to sleep- we close the lids and that's it. The only reboot is for a new kernel install, though my wife's computer always wants to reboot on updates- hers is a Dell with Dell installed Ubuntu- mine is an inherited Acer laptop with Debian Squeeze dual booting with Windows 7. I do boot in to Windows every few months to update it. Just did last night, and it took like 2 hours to update, several reboots (?!)
The desktop powers down every night, turn on every morning when I get up. By the time I need it is is "warmed up :)

I run two laptops each day, my personal one I put to sleep and the work one I let the power settings shut the screen off. My backups run at night on my work computer and often other updates happen at night so need it on. I reboot every few months when needed for update or password change.