When I'm finished using my computer for the night, what action should I use (shut down, stand by or hibernate)? And why?
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- retroglide -
ANSWERS: 16
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Shut down because it uses less electricity and is part of your contribution to reducing carbon gas emissions.
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You'd be best to shut it down. Stand by and hibernate don't completely turn off the computer. Also, you may want to unplug it too, in case there is an electrical storm and your power goes out. If the power cable is connected, it could scramble your hard-drive whether it is on or not.
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I also agree with shut down. When it is on stand by or hibernate it is still actually on, and your computer is vulnerable to hackers and viruses.
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Unless it really needs to be restarted, I'd just hibernate it. First of all, it wont be using any power. And second, when you are ready to use it again, it loads up in a snap! Note: When hibernated, your computer is not on in any way. Only in standby is your computer still on.
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Unless it really needs to be restarted, I'd just hibernate it. First of all, it wont be using any power. And second, when you are ready to use it again, it loads up in a snap!
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Personally, I just yank the plug out of the wall - it's quicker.
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I put mine on Stand By at night. Also you could just leave it on. Leaving it on allows back ground programs to run such as virus scans and automatic up dates. You are just as vulnerable to hackers when you are on it in the middle of the day as you are at night. So shutting it down doesn't really save you from hackers. Also it is a strain on the circuit boards when you turn it off and then turn it back on. It isn't good for the computer to do it every day. However every computer does need to be restarted once in a while. Every day is not healthy.
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Well, If you are doing stuff like servering or hosting or intending to let someone link up to your computer like in PCANYWHERE you should say standby. Hibernate shuts down your harddrives and puts your computer in sleep. This uses electricity. Turn it off If your not doing any of this.
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I prefer to shut down. It avoids many of the typical "shut up and reboot" situations.
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Leave your computer running. from past experience at a federal government facility, we discovered that turning off the monitors each night, shortened the life of the screen. once its on leave it on.
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Yes, you can wear out a computer by turning it off and on. But, compared to listening to a lot of music or watching a lot of video, turning it off and on isn't going to stress your computer that much. If you watch a lot of video or listen to a lot of music, consider moving the files to an external drive and let that one do all the spinning. As far as hackers and viruses go, use a Mac or Linux if its really a bother. But even if you use a PC and have virus protection and don't visit sites which put spyware on your computer, odds are actually in your favor that your ISP is providing enough protection. There might be an exception if you are using a wireless network. Otherwise, the main reason to leave it on is to save time when it wakes up. And the main reason to turn it off, is to avoid hearing any noise from the fan.
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I advise my clients to shut their computers off if they're going to be away from them for more than 3 or 4 hours. Overnight and while you're away at work or just out for the day is definitely a good time to shut it off. Although a lot of folks claim wear and tear from repeated turning on and off, there are no definitive reports proving it one way or the other. You just have to use common sense. BryinLanza makes a good point about wasted power use. In the case of a laptop (which I recall reading you own), turning it off at any time of prolonged inactivity is a good idea especially due to their ability to heat up fast. I would be willing to bet that in the case of a laptop, the longer it's off, the longer it lives.
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I advise my clients to shut their computers off if they're going to be away from them for more than 3 or 4 hours. Overnight and while you're away at work or just out for the day is definitely a good time to shut it off. Although a lot of folks claim wear and tear from repeated turning on and off, there are no definitive reports proving it one way or the other. You just have to use common sense. BryinLanza makes a good point about wasted power use. In the case of a laptop (which I recall reading you own), turning it off at any time of prolonged inactivity is a good idea especially due to their ability to heat up fast. I would be willing to bet that in the case of a laptop, the longer it's off, the longer it lives.
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Depending on what you choose to do based on all the advice given here, I would like to point out that if you do choose to leave your computer on in hibernate mode there are several tasks which a computer performs when it turns on that you would need to schedule your computer to do regularly, such as defragmenting your hard drive and emptying your recycle bin. You should be able to find this on most Windows machines under the control panel, in a folder named "Performance and Maintenance" and there will be something to click on called "scheduled tasks". From there you can choose several things for your computer to do on its own so you don't have to worry about it. However, I suggest turning off your computer to save power. If it takes a long time to boot, you can get a program that will turn on your computer for you before you need it. Here's one: http://restart.qarchive.org/software.html
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My parents were having trouble with a computer they bought. It was under warranty, and it kept crashing on them. They got it fixed for free, and the people at best buy said to turn it off at night. I turn off my laptop at night. If I didn't, the screen could possibly get BURNT in because I am having that problem by mid day in the corner of my screen, like sometimes I can actually see the Icons when something grey is covering them! When I shut down the next morning it is OK, but by the end of the day A can see a bit of what ever I had there most, such as the texture view window for my mapping program (GTK Radiant) So yeah turn it off!
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I keep my computer on Standby, and turn off the monitor. If you have a broadband connection, it's best to disable this while your computer is in Standby. I use dialup, so I'm not worried about "hackers" while my computer is in standby and I'm not NEARby. One thing I've learned, though, is that any malicious programs you may have encountered during your last web session (viruses, worms, etc) are designed to execute when Windows BOOTS UP. So, if you don't turn your computer off then you don't give these little nasties a chance to execute before you figure out they're there! I also like to run virus scans, defrag, etc while I'm not at the computer - and if my computer is OFF, then I can't exactly do those things.
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