Hello List and everybody Dick, apart from being a piano tuner, as a sideline I assemble and sell computers, and I can orient you about that: >List, I'm fairly new at all this computer business. At the end of each >day is it best to shut down the computer , or leave it running all the >time. I've been told both ways , but they were novices also. I know many >of you have been using computers for a long time & would appreciate some >input concerning this question. >Thanks , Dick----Louisiana Newer technology allows you to keep your computer runing 24 hours a day, provided you have it well configured, power management on, and a good voltage regulator installed, Any computer built in the last three years is suitable, All integrated circuitrie memory an cpu can stay on endlesly, they suffer more when you switch the computer on and of than when they are on all the time. Hard drives are mechanical, hi speed drives, and they are subjected to wear, that is were APM (Advanced Power Management) works for you, but it has to be configured properly trough setup or windows as to shut off the disk drives after a period of inactivity, and the third component that need power management is the monitor, if it is a CRT (cathodic ray tube) monitor, they use a filament like the tv so it needs as the hard drive to be able to shut it off after some time of inactivity. Personally my computer never shuts down, I used for office work and it is properly configured, I use it as an answering machine, as FAX e-mail and never turn it off. Keith, For your MAC, that is a normal life expectancy for hard drive, since it is four an a half years old probably it doesnīt shut off the Disk drives, new APM features keep disk life longer. Kuang, Higher temperatures are dissipated by the fan, and you would be surprised how well new computer circuits handle heath, electronic componentīs lifespan is well over 20 years in integrated circuitry, mechanical parts are protected by APM, and if you are using Windows98 you get the suspend feature, that will almost shut off your computer leaving only enough current to keep the memomry alive and detect an "awake" signal. but you have a point in your e-mail >. It's also a good idea to >reboot your computer once in a while to "clean up" your memory/temp >directory and ultimately avoid some crashes. but for that reason from time to time I just do that, reboot. Hope it helps Elian
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