There are camps on both sides of this issue... Running all the time causes excessive dust injestion and consumes massive amounts of energy which is very wastefull in my opinion. Turning it off when it isn't used causes temperature swings from hot to cold and could cause connections to loosen. These are the two main arguments ( I'm sure there are many others ).

 

I turn my PC off when it isn't being used ( I actually Hibernate; which saves the RAM to the hard disk and then powers down ). Hibernate allows for a faster boot ( about 10 - 15 seconds from pressing the On Button ) and saves power. I have never had a component connection loosen or fail due to temperature swings.

 

 

Hibernation is the way to go IMO.

 

pcgeek11

 

thanks for the info. think i will start hibernating, i hate the 5 minute start up i go through now.

I'm sure he was exaggerating.  You know that sometimes 2 minutes feels like 5.

 

On topic, i put mine to sleep.  I shut the laptop cover and it sleeps.  And my other two I put in sleep or as XP calls it STANDBY.

 

Just a little sidenote:  On my compaq I have put it in standby for the last 6 years and have not had any problems with that.  For what it's worth:smileywink:

 

Yea, I know, I just wanted to jump in there. I also use the sleep mode during the day. When it's nighty night I power off.

 

Roger1955

5 minutes startup! Wow! From the push of the power button, to the logging into desktop 1 1/2 to 2 minutes tops for me!

 

 

Roger1955

-----------------------------

XPS 410 Windows Vista Home Premium
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe @ 2.4 ghz
3 GB DDR2 SDRAM 533 mhz / Evga Geforce 7600GT
2x250 GB WD Sata II HDD'S 7200 rpm(Raid 1 Array)
19 in E197FPB Flat Panel Display
13 and 1 media card reader
Sony CRX 3105S 48xCombo CD-RW/DVD Sata
TSST Corp TS-H553A 16xDVD+-RW/DL Sata
IEEE 1394 PCI Express Firewire Port
AVG Anti-Virus, AVG Anti-Spyware, Comodo Pro Firewall, Comodo BoClean, Super Anti-Spyware, Window Defender 

next time i shut down and reboot, i will time it. it seems to be much longer than on the old ME system. will publish the results shortly

ok, here's the scoop:

start 8:16:30

log on 8:17:15

desktop shows up 8:17:35

end of loading background apps with cpu meter not showing 100% 8:18:30

 

you called it..... 2 minutes

seemed like 5 to me.

during loading of background apps, when i want to open some programs they will take a while to come up, while others won't.

 

i have set up hybrid sleep and will start using this instead of shutting down completely. windows says it will only be 10-15 seconds to wake completely. we will see about this.

 

thanks for all the input. great forum. i will, i am sure, be calling on you all many times to come.