Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!csn!ncar!gatech!prism!gt0652b
From: gt0652b@prism.gatech.EDU (I don't know man, he was just here)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
Subject: Re: leaving machine on all the time?
Message-ID: <25156@hydra.gatech.EDU>
Date: 28 Mar 91 19:41:02 GMT
References: <91087.073236MHS108@psuvm.psu.edu>
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology
Lines: 54

In article <91087.073236MHS108@psuvm.psu.edu> MHS108@psuvm.psu.edu (Mark Solsman) writes:
>I have a 386 system in a tower case that is plugged into a voltage regulator.
>
>Is it better to leave my system on all of the time, or shut it off after each
>use?
>
>(of course turning off the monitor)

Sure! Leave the thing on. "Dave, will I dream?" As long as you clean the dust
out of it about once a year there shouldn't be anything wrong with keeping
the power on. But what about just turning the thing off every time I am finished
with it? There's the problem! Turning you computer off and on is about the 
most dangerous thing you can do to it besides giving it to a University
of Georgia student. Here's what happens

	Your motherboard cools and changes from its normal concave shape
	to flat pulling all off you chips out of their sockets ever so 
	slightly.

	Your power supply cools and goes through the same fatigue mentioned
	above. (Plus you have decreased the life of that power swith by one)

	Your hard drives grind to a stop (Not quite so bad as them trying to
	 start-up again)

	 Your coprocessor cools 

	 God forbid your hard disk doesn't crash

There are some very good things that happen when you do turn your computer
off however. Maniny, you computer does a P.O.S.T (Power On Self Test) that 
will elieviate most of the problems caused by static electrisity. 

The good thing about a POST is that you don't actually have to turn the
computer off to do one. Just cold boot it! If you have a hardware reset
switch (Not CTRL-ALT-DEL) that should do the trick. If you don't, then 
try this command at the dos prmpt Debug | g=ffff:0. I am not quite sure
if that command is right, but it is something like that.

Computers age very mature people so you should let them stay up as long
as they want as long as they are not cranky the next day. Do like your
mom did when you were a kid Just make them take a nap (coldboot).

Josh Guttman

P.S. I know this is one of those cardinal issues that always warrants a
flame! Remember, keep them clean, I take no prisoners.


-- 
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* Joshua I. Guttman	   (404)355-3908 Home      **    Norm Is Lord! 	    *
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