[LINK] Leave on, or turn off?

[Frank O'Connor]

For me it depends on the OS.

With my Windows boxen I turn the puppies off. Reason? Windows memory 
management and stability isn't as good as LINUX and MacOS (although 
XP is a big improvement on older variants), memory fragmentation 
seems to occur, and some virtual memory limitations mean that caches 
can corrupt with prolonged use.

With my Mac boxen ... I have no problems leaving the puppies on or 
off. Same with my LINUX box.

On the hardware side ... it's a line ball call as to whether they 
should be on or off. Strain on the moving parts (disks, fans et alia) 
can result from frequent starting up ... on little numbers like disk 
spindles and gearing but IC's and chips are unlikely to fail nowadays 
simply because of being powered up. Ditto for screens ... burn in and 
the like became a 'thing of the past' a few years back (although the 
truly paranoid still use screensavers).

					Regards,

At 11:22 AM +1100 on 30/11/06 you wrote:
>Has anyone got a reference to a real bit of reliable research which says
>whether it is better to turn a computer off at night, or leave it on 24/7
>(disregarding energy consumption) ?
>
>I guess the question resolves into
>a) the electronics, and
>b) hard-disk-bearing wear.
>
>I've got plenty of so-called 'expert' opinion (mostly in favour of leaving
>computers on), but this seems essentially to be anecdotal only.
>
>Someone, at some time (ie US government departments or the army) must have
>done a systematic test, surely!
>
>
>--
>Stewart Fist, writer, journalist, film-maker
>70 Middle Harbour Road, LINDFIELD, 2070, NSW, Australia
>Ph +61 (2) 9416 7458
>
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