February 24, 2016

On All The Time

Filed under: Main — Tags: — admin @ 12:01 am

Should you leave your computer on all the time? Isn’t that a waste of energy? Sure it is, but that doesn’t deter people such as myself from leaving their PCs on 24/7.

Back in the early 1980s, when I first got into the insane hobby, I would never think of leaving my computer on all the time. My TRS-80 Model III popped to life as soon as I flippy the on-off switch. I typed in the date (or not) and I was ready to go.

Ditto for my first IBM PC. I remember turning it on and off perhaps several times a day. Leave it on all the time? Gadzooks! Why?

The real reason for the constant on-off back in those days was speed. It took no time to turn on a PC and start working. It was like turning on the radio: Activation was instantaneous. I could flip the Big Red Switch and start typing at once. I didn’t have to wait.

Oh, sure: The floppy drive had to read the operating system. I still remember the audio pattern: Honk-honk, RRRRRGH. Then beep, then I’d see text on the screen and I could start typing.

In the late 1980s, and especially during the 1990s, things began to change. With more peripherals and more advanced software, startup time increased.

I timed the startup sequence for an early edition of PCs For Dummies: 40 seconds. That doesn’t seem too egregious, but if you’re turning the PC on or off several times a day, that time can add up.

In the late 1990s, with lots of drivers and startup and, O yeah, Windows 95, the startup time grew to well over 2 minutes. So keeping the systems on all the time meant I could start work more quickly. That doesn’t explain why I leave my computers on overnight, however.

What does explain leaving the system on all the time is heat: One of the problems with turning a computer off and on is that the internal temperature changes. Over time, the repeated changes can affect PC hardware, causing wear.

People who turn their computer off every day, or several times a day, have valid arguments as well. For example, if I used my PC only in the evenings, then I would see no point in keeping the computer on all day. Even when I’m gone on vacation, even for a day, I do turn off everything.

So which should you choose? It depends on what you’re comfortable with. If you want to save energy or don’t use the computer that often, turn it off! Otherwise, be an energy hog like me and keep it on all the time, which is convenient but an offense worthy of scolding.

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