putey shut down

[flash]

hope this is the right place for a question such as this, I had a look around and couldn't find a more suitable one so here goes, a simple question from a simple bloke!

do you shut your computer down at night or do you just put it in sleep mode! (night as in end of shift/day)

[ricktas]

I shut mine down, and turn the power outlet off as well.

[Imagenif]

Hi Flash,

I have never found sleep mode to be very useful on a windows PC so i always shut my PC down completely if Im going to shut it down at all. Sometimes Ill leave my main PC running for weeks which does not hurt them but sux plenty of juice. I think I counted 6 computers including notebooks in my house recently so the power bill can be hefty.

[annainoz]

Hi Flash,

I have never found sleep mode to be very useful on a windows PC so i always shut my PC down completely if Im going to shut it down at all. Sometimes Ill leave my main PC running for weeks which does not hurt them but sux plenty of juice. I think I counted 6 computers including notebooks in my house recently so the power bill can be hefty.

haha sounds like our house. We have a tower attached to the plasma in the family room and LCD in the loungeroom and both act as a server .. hubby has like two laptops .. new and old plus the netbook in our bedroom (that's also his office) then the kids have a lappy each too. We (me and the kids) shut our lappys down but everything else remains on. I've said we don't need any more gadgets that need to be plugged in !

[Kym]

Notebook goes sleepy byes (close the lid)
Server stay running, they do backups etc at night
Wife's desktop shutdown

[Cage]

I'm with Rick.

I shut it down and turn off the power.

Kevin

[slybutcher]

I agree there is no real benefit from leaving your computer in sleep mode just sucks power in a big way.
lol I even shut down my router when I am finished for the night.

[ricktas]

Actually, I am more concerned that you call it a 'putey'.

[flash]

oh! I call it a lot worse things than that! especially when we had the power surge last year and fried it! cost me just under $1,000 to rebuild it! then within a week the modem suffered the same!

[spence]

oh! I call it a lot worse things than that! especially when we had the power surge last year and fried it! cost me just under $1,000 to rebuild it! then within a week the modem suffered the same!

Good reason to shut down and turn of the power at the wall also the router

I do

[mcdesign]

oh! I call it a lot worse things than that! especially when we had the power surge last year and fried it! cost me just under $1,000 to rebuild it! then within a week the modem suffered the same!

You need a UPS board, 'Uninterupted Power Supply' if you have bad power surges, I have two here after frying a battery pack some years ago, they are not that expensive (compared to a service charge!) and can be bought in most good electrical stores now. Computer and Data drives run through the battery back-up part all other peripherals run through the surge protection part.

[Boofhead]

You need a UPS board, 'Uninterupted Power Supply' if you have bad power surges, I have two here after frying a battery pack some years ago, they are not that expensive (compared to a service charge!) and can be bought in most good electrical stores now. Computer and Data drives run through the battery back-up part all other peripherals run through the surge protection part.

Be aware that there are many different kinds of UPS as well, explained here

Your basic UPS will not necessarily filter all the bad stuff whereas a true online UPS will save just about everything bar a direct lightning strike.

Be aware that most of the cheap surge suppressors, apart from being a fire hazard , have no indication of whether they are still operational. They are all rated for how many and how severe voltage spikes they can handle. Once the limits are exceeded they will no longer protect your equipment and some will even work against you, amplifying the spike further. Laptops, being run on batteries, are not as prone to mains voltage issues.

It is a good practice to unplug any electronic equipment you care about during electrical storms as turning off the power point only disconnects the equipment from the actice wire, the earth and neutral are still connected and can carry damaging spikes from a nearby lightning strike.

[davidd]

About 15 years ago, I was at work, with my computer switched on, when lightning struck the power pole outside. My computer just re-booted, and ran fine, but a computer in the next office that was turned OFF had it's power supply fried! ???

[Watchamacallit]

I have a personal hate for sleep mode, it's kind of the nice to have the sanity that your PC is on and non-responsive, knowing something is wrong right away rather than going "umm...hello?"

That being said, depending on the task my computer stays on or is switch off (and protected by a few surge boards too).

[debs]

I shut down and turn the power off at the wall.

[ameerat42]

SHUT
D
O
W
N
bIg TIME
and
SWITCH OFF @ The wALL.

(And it goes through a UPS, as well.)

One BURN OUT with Data LOSS is en-UFF.
Am.

[Kym]

Power (surge) protection http://www.ausphotography.net.au/for...402#post356402

[Colinc1]

I recently started shutting mine down nightly as of a few weeks ago, a mouse pooed on my graphics card and fried it,don't know what happened to the mouse though

[mikec]

Its good to shut down, I always make sure the guys at work shut down the PC's too. I've found the guys that never shut down always had more software issues because cache and the like wasn't getting cleared. Plus it'll save a lot of power.

[Charbuque]

Mac powerbook - left on for about 6 years and no problems. Just replaced it with an imac and that stays on all the time as well. (They are shut down occasionally, but not as a matter of course).