Shutting off Computer

[Ansar]

How exactly does turning off the computer help? I usually just leave it hibernating.

 

[Speedo]

How does it help... what exactly?

I don't see much point in using hibernation, sleep or etc unless you're talking about a laptop running on battery. Personally I leave my comp on 24/7/365, and just have it set to turn the monitor off after 20 min. Of course, it's also running SETI@home whenever it's idle.

The main disadvantage that comes to mind with hibernation is that you have to give up a chuck of hard drive space equal to the amount of memory you have, since windows dumps everything currently in memory to the HDD when it hibernates.

 

[Zakharov]

I turn my computer off when I'm not using it for two reasons:

1) Force of habit left over from the days when there was no hibernate mode or anything of that kind. In fact I'm sure there was not even a reset button on my dad's first machine around 20 years ago, only a power switch.

2) It's one less fire risk in the house, however small that risk may be.

 

[Souron]

I find my computer runs faster after I restart it.

 

[Aphex_Twin]

I kept hearing this roumor, a few years back, that if you shut down and power up your computer you damage it. Safe to say, after 4-5 computers this has never happend (power company conspiracy? )

Windows isn't incredibly stable so you need to reboot every once in a while, the memory has a tendency to fill up with crap that slows down the whole system.

 

[CruddyLeper]

Leaving it hibernating is ecologically unsound. Why burn watts doing nothing?

I prefer to give my PC a good rest every night rather than expecting it to work flawlessly 24-7.

 

[Speedo]

I kept hearing this roumor, a few years back, that if you shut down and power up your computer you damage it. Safe to say, after 4-5 computers this has never happend (power company conspiracy? )

I think it's true that it's not good for it, but you'd actually have to power it on and off a *lot* to actually damage anything. Kind of like how the most stressful time for a car engine is when it's being started.

Windows isn't incredibly stable so you need to reboot every once in a while, the memory has a tendency to fill up with crap that slows down the whole system.
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I find my computer runs faster after I restart it.

Anything prior to 2000: yes, most definetly yes. 2000 or XP: no. My comp at work (a pitiful PIII 1Ghz with 256MB RAM) running 2000 SP4 averages a month or so between reboots. Even my home comp, which is XP Pro SP2 and is constantly having stuff installed, uninstalled, playing games, Photoshop, 3ds Max stuff, etc, probably averages 14 days between reboots. Completely stable most of the time.

If you have a decent amount of RAM and still have problems with the XP or 2k *significantly* slowing down after a short time period, your problem probably lies with spyware.

I prefer to give my PC a good rest every night rather than expecting it to work flawlessly 24-7.

Sorry, I just have to at the idea of a PC needing to rest

 

[The Person]

Leaving it hibernating is ecologically unsound. Why burn watts doing nothing?

I prefer to give my PC a good rest every night rather than expecting it to work flawlessly 24-7.

Exactly. If I keep it on all night it's because I'm downloading some big file.

 

[Souron]

Leaving it hibernating is ecologically unsound. Why burn watts doing nothing?

Actually, hibernating compleately shuts the power consumption off. It does not, however, restart windows. I use it from time to time when I'm too lazy to make sure my computer shuts down properly.