Windows 10: How long to keep computer switched on?

that is safely for the computer, and premises?

I don't always turn mine off at night, but wonder if I am incorrect, though I do believe some folk leave their machine almost permanently on.

:)

 

Do I have to keep the computer switched on for 24 hours on 29 July?

Original Title: Windows 10 Upgrade on 29 July

Do I have to keep the computer switched on for 24 hours on 29 July? 24 hours by local time or US Pacific/Mountain/Eastern time?

 

Do I have to keep the computer switched on for 24 hours on 29 July?

Hi Narayanan,

Thank you for showing interest in Windows 10.

You don't need to keep your computer on for 24 hours on July 29, 2015. If you have already reserve Windows 10 then you will be able to upgrade it to Windows 10 till July 29, 2016 for free. Microsoft might release an update which you need to install and you
will good to go with Windows 10.

Hope the information provided is helpful. Do let us know if you have any more concern related to Windows.

Regards,

 

Most parts break on startup due to heat change going from cold to hot its less likely to fail if left on

 

There are good arguments for both methods.
However if you are leaving it on 24/7 it will accumulate dust a lot quicker and make sure you are using a UPS to protect against power outages or surges and if you let it hibernate that's nearly the same as turning it off anyway. So nothing gained.

 

Any fireman will tell you to turn off all electrical devices where possible to minimise the risk of fire. I would turn the PC off unless you have some critical need to keep the PC on overnight.

 

Most electronic devices lifetime revolves around Capacitors , Short Circuiting & Frying Chips , whichever coming first .

So judging that your device have a good cooling system that is often serviced by you (cleaning all the compiling dust) would save a chip for indefinite years .

A mean to save it from altering current intensity (hopefully being on a good electrical grid or attached to a stabilizer *) then you're good with circuits too .

Then you'd be down to capacitors **, now these are known to have a defined life span averaging 10,000 hrs of use (close to a year and a half) , some companies ex: Asus / Lenovo claim they use 20,000 hrs of use capacitors and market this to be a lifetime indefinite capacitors (they do not put constant on state in consideration) giving them a 3 years span of being constantly on .

On a side notice capacitors of a desktop motherboard can be replaced by a technician , however that of a laptop or a hard-drive (yes they do use ones) need more of a jewel maker to have them replaced ***.

So bottom line your bottle neck would be capacitors and a life span of 2 ~ 4 years tops before device failure in case of constant on .

* Current stabilizer




** Desktop Capacitor





*** Laptop Capacitor

 

I would be highly upset if I only got 2-3 years of service out of my electronics that are energized 24/7. I think the above is...ummm....a large percentage of hooey.

 

I left my old sony on for nearly six years, only switching off occasionally. Frankly, these days it does not really matter much leaving them on 24/7. The average house has loads of things left on all the time or in standby - tvs, satellite boxes, router etc.

 

Hi,

That's correct. 24/7 MBs are guaranteed to last at least for 10 years continuous service. All caps are solid caps, meaning they do not use any electrolytic that can dry up.

Personally I would not leave a machine running 24/7 nowadays unless it pays for itself doing so.

Cheers, *Wink

 

I run a fileservee 24x7. Has been running for nearly 4 years now.

 

Hooey *Smile Well yes and no. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

Capacitors do actually have quoted lifetimes which are shown in the relevant data sheets. You might be surprised just how 'low' some are. Typically a top quality part will have a quoted 'life' of at least 2000 hrs with the very best of the best at nearer 10,000 hrs, which is.... just over a year. And everything in between based on price/size/performance.

The good news is that this has no bearing on how long they last in a given application because these lifetime figures are also quoted at worst case usage conditions, which for electrolytic caps (which are the kind we are talking about here) mean operating at the maximum temperature rating (105C for most quality parts, 85C for standard commercial grade) and also at the maximum 'ripple current'... the AC current passing through the device under very specific test conditions.

So no need to worry folks. Lifetimes of 10 to 15 yrs are easily achievable, even with 24/7 usage for correctly designed equipment.

 

Hi,

If we're talking ripple current then we're talking PSU, right ? Often the weakest component in any rig which makes sense as it does take all the inrush current. A well designed PSU uses current limiters and should put out a stable voltage and current. Most residual ripple is HF crud caused by the choppers anywway. Pretty harmless unless you're into wideband high-end audio and then some...

Cheers, *Wink

 

Personally I believe in UPS's I have 2 business computer running 24/7 and in the last 1o years or so I have had on MB fail and 1 PSU. The MB was less than a year old. the PSU was so old I don't remember when I bought it. I usually upgrade MB and CPU ever 3 to 5 years and buy 1 gen back.
I have lost one notebook at least to lightning in thunderstorms, it was not on a UPS at the time, I won't let that happen again. I also no longer leave my notebook running when I'm not using it. With SSD's Start up and loading window is a 15 second operation there is no advantage to leaving it running.
The business computers I do for several reasons

 

pffft well shouldn't you at least google ?
https://www.illinoiscapacitor.com/pd...capacitors.pdf

anything beyond that are you being lucky just due to factors stated in document .