Dear geek,
I turn my computer off every time I leave it for more than 10 minutes. A coworker noticed when I went on lunch that I had turned it off, and asked why I don’t just leave it on. Is there really a benefit to turning it off all the time? Won’t leaving it on all day, everyday break it?Sincerely,
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Dear powerhouse,
Prior to about 1993, there was an issue with the power switch with some computer manufacturers if you left the computer on for too long, so many people would insist that you turn your computer off if you were going to be away from it for more than a few minutes. Today, this is not an issue.
With the issue of potential damage no longer an issue, the only other issue is power conservation. If you are leaving a computer on overnight in order to run a virus scan or backup once in a while, it should have very little impact on your electricity bill. However, in an office with a hundred or more computers, leaving every computer on overnight could result in a higher electricity bill.
Computer virus scans and backups both tend to run at night. This means that if your computer is turned off, it will not scan or backup properly, which is not a good thing. If you are turning your computer off at night, it is important to schedule these things to run at another time- like on your lunch break.
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