Desktop
by timwalsh
And there is no REAL definitive answer.
So I'll approach it from a couple of different standpoints:
Energy savings: This is a common argument for shutting down your computer every day. Whether this argument holds water for you specifically depends entirely on your motives. If you are motivated to save money on your electric bill, don't expect any monstrous savings. The most I've ever saved by turning off my computers (plural) while on vacation was $10 (and this was in addition to turning off / unplugging everything else and turning down the heat). Is the small amount saved worth the aggravation of having to wait while your computer boots-up? Only you can answer that. Obviously, the savings you might see will vary by season andregion.
If your motivation is to "help save the environment" no matter what the sacrifice....
Security: Whether your computer will be more secure if you turn it off at night is very dependent on what type of Internet connection you have and what other security measures you have take. The bottom line argument here is that obviously no hacker (no matter how good he is) is going to be able to access your computer if it is turned off. However, that argument, by itself, is not a compelling reason to turn off the computer at night (only). If you want to use this argument, you should be turning off the computer whenever you aren't sitting in front of it.
Component longevity: The common argument here is that the less the computer runs,the longer the computer components will last. So to follow this line of reasoning, if you never turn on the computer, it components will last forever! Most people who use this argument also tend to quote that manufacturer's figure for MTBF (mean time between failure) (usually quoted in hours) as if this figure also means a given component ONLY has X number of hours of usage available after which the component ceases to funct
by timwalsh
Most people who use this argument also tend to quote that manufacturer's figure for MTBF (mean time between failure) (usually quoted in hours) as if this figure also means a given component ONLY has X number of hours of usage available after which the component ceases to function. This can't be farther from the truth. MTBF is a MEAN among ALL components of the exact same model and manufacturer. It doesn't take into account such factors as actual usage and environment. Therefore, the specific component you have may fail at hour one, or it may never fail.
The truth is that almost all electrical components suffer their greatest stress when power is applied. The more often power is applied, the more likely a component is to suffer from stress-induced failure.
System stability: It is well known that some operating systems work more reliably when they are restarted on a regular basis (although not necessarily every day). If you use one of these operating systems, it obviously makes sense to restart the computer on a regular basis. Some programs are also notorious for their "memory leaks." These programs will often suck up more and more memory until the system crashes. Usually the only way to recover is to reboot. However, again, these arguments, by themselves, are not compelling reasons to shut down the computer every night. Conversely, every time you turn a system off and back on, you provide another opportunity for the system to scramble memory and corrupt files.
So the bottom line here is that there REALLY isn't any common wisdom that can be applied consistently for EVERY situation. Each different situation must be studied to see "what makes sense." Usually, it really all comes down to personal preference
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