Is it OK to keep my desk top computer switched on for a few days at a time. When I am downloading movies and TV shows on Pirate Bay, sometimes but not often, it can take maybe three days and three nights or more to complete. Thanks.

Mine goes months between power cycling even then it cycles only because an update requires a re-start.

 

4 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

Is it OK to keep my desk top computer switched on for a few days at a time. When I am downloading movies and TV shows on Pirate Bay, sometimes but not often, it can take maybe three days and three nights or more to complete. Thanks.

Mine is on permanently. It only gets switched off if I go away for a holiday or there is a power outage or as @Ralf001 states when a restart is required following an update.

Should not be any problem, so long s you have decent surge protection in your mains supply (thunderstorms), and adequate cooling.

Most electronic failures occur at switch on.

7 minutes ago, Mutt Daeng said:

Mine is on permanently. It only gets switched off if I go away for a holiday or there is a power outage or as @Ralf001 states when a restart is required following an update.

Thanks, if there is a power outrage, I have a UPS connected.

2 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

Mine goes months between power cycling even then it cycles only because an update requires a re-start.

 

In my experience those updates, at least for Windows, happen more often.

Most of the time my PC is on. Part of that time the monitor is sleeping and part of the time the PC is sleeping.

 

And about downloading something from Pirate Bay. You don't have to do that permanently. You can also connect again on the next day or a week later.

When I want something urgent then I let it run. But often the download parts are just not available at some time. Then just try again later. 

 

I usually keep my laptop on full time, unless I am going away for a week or so. It uses very little power in sleep mode anyway.

IMO switching a laptop on and off is placing more stress on the switch itself, and any moving-type hard drive.

I wonder if it's ok to keep one of these on 24/7?

 

I'm very surprised that it takes so long for you to download. I rarely take an hour, often far less, to download an eight or 10 episode series. Now, back in the dial-up day, that was slow and could take all night or longer. There is software you can download to resume downloads, which I used to use back then.

On 7/9/2023 at 10:51 AM, Ralf001 said:

Mine goes months

 

On 7/9/2023 at 10:51 AM, Mutt Daeng said:

Mine is on permanently.

I am just curious if there is any particular reason to leave them on?

I guess it is just ingrained in me but I tend to switch off if even if going out for an hour or so and especially overnight. 

If it's a desktop, make sure you have a high quality power supply. The high quality ones cost around 5 - 7k thb. Also the cooling fan should be of a high quality although the new generation CPUs shut down by themselves in case of overheating.

 

If it's a laptop, I wouldn't because it is decreasing the lifespan of the device. Of course you can but the cooling should be good and especially here in Thailand.

On 7/9/2023 at 11:10 AM, NoshowJones said:

Thanks, if there is a power outrage, I have a UPS connected.

I get outraged by those outages!  Call it a power cut like in the old days.

If using a Laptop at home for any length of time, I usually remove the battery and work off the mains with a UPS.

16 hours ago, dingdongrb said:

I wonder if it's ok to keep one of these on 24/7?

 

My 6 year old i5 NUC is on 24/7 with no problems. Of course it goes off with a power cut.

1 minute ago, Surasak said:

If using a Laptop at home for any length of time, I usually remove the battery and work off the mains with a UPS.

Then one day you will have to take it somewhere, only to find a dead battery! 555

17 minutes ago, topt said:

 

I am just curious if there is any particular reason to leave them on?

I guess it is just ingrained in me but I tend to switch off if even if going out for an hour or so and especially overnight. 

Mine is actually a laptop that sits on a shelf under my desk... its a pain to slide it out/open lid/power on.

 

10 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

I get outraged by those outages!  Call it a power cut like in the old days.

For me it's fai dup.

16 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

I'm very surprised that it takes so long for you to download. I rarely take an hour, often far less, to download an eight or 10 episode series. Now, back in the dial-up day, that was slow and could take all night or longer. There is software you can download to resume downloads, which I used to use back then.

It does not usually take long to download, though downloading "The Virginian" for three series took about 5 days.

3 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Mine is actually a laptop that sits on a shelf under my desk... its a pain to slide it out/open lid/power on.

 

The 'slide it out' and 'open lid' will be necessary whether switched on or not. How long does it take from pressing the ON button to being ready for use? 30 seconds of pain!

It is worth noting that because of poor design, it is necessary to restart Windows from time to time to clear temporary files. Failure to do this will eventually slow down the machine and fill the drive with unnecessary garbage.

6 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

The 'slide it out' and 'open lid' will be necessary whether switched on or not. How long does it take from pressing the ON button to being ready for use? 30 seconds of pain!

A couple of minutes as I have to re-tidy all the cabling.

Much easier just to leave it powered on, I have the 3 external monitors set to sleep after 10 mins but a quick shake of the mouse brings them back to life.

18 minutes ago, mrfill said:

It is worth noting that because of poor design, it is necessary to restart Windows from time to time to clear temporary files. Failure to do this will eventually slow down the machine and fill the drive with unnecessary garbage.

Yes, even a full shutdown doesn't completely re-set the system. Best to do a restart every now and again. 

42 minutes ago, Baht Simpson said:

Yes, even a full shutdown doesn't completely re-set the system. Best to do a restart every now and again. 

Too funny.....  

 

How about doing some proper clean-up and maintenance every now and then?

 

Run 'Disk Cleanup' (if Windows OS)

Clear cache in browser

I run CCleaner occasionally

Execute: %temp% and clear the folder

 

......and of course for a desktop, remove the cover and give the inside a nice blow-out with being sure the fan operates freely as well as cleaning the fan filter if there is one.

1 hour ago, KannikaP said:

My 6 year old i5 NUC is on 24/7 with no problems. Of course it goes off with a power cut.

Thanks, that's nice to know.

 

I have installed a widget that allows me to monitor CPU temp. Looking at it occasionally I can see there hasn't been much of a change and I have left my device powered up for a little over a week now.

26 minutes ago, dingdongrb said:

Too funny.....  

 

How about doing some proper clean-up and maintenance every now and then?

 

Run 'Disk Cleanup' (if Windows OS)

Clear cache in browser

I run CCleaner occasionally

Execute: %temp% and clear the folder

 

......and of course for a desktop, remove the cover and give the inside a nice blow-out with being sure the fan operates freely as well as cleaning the fan filter if there is one.

What's funny? And I do all of the above. 

21 minutes ago, Baht Simpson said:

What's funny? And I do all of the above. 

"Best to do a restart every now and again."

 

You made it sound like doing a restart will help something or another.

Why leave it on? more senile mush brain behavior. Running up the electric bill so you can save, what, 3 seconds? Modern solid state drive computers boot up in seconds. My laptop goes from off to ready in 3 and a half seconds. There's a dozen reasons NOT to leave a computer running 24/7. Only one reason I can see to NOT power it off, and that's pure laziness.

 

Must be too strenuous to slightly bend over to press a power switch, I guess.

On 7/9/2023 at 6:49 AM, NoshowJones said:

When I am downloading movies and TV shows on Pirate Bay, sometimes but not often, it can take maybe three days and three nights or more to complete

I've heard there are interesting people with so called "Black Box" that download almost everything of particular genre non-stop. I mean like massive download. that decided what to watch, what to keep and what to delete. 

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned yet is to ensure your non-ssd hard drives goes to sleep when the system is idle. Some flavors of linux definitely don't do it automatically and require extra tweaking and/or software to do it properly.

 

This can cause the early demise of your drives. 

 

 

A workstation pc with a solid state drive can be left on in perpetuity, it’s what I’ve always used