There are two schools of thought regarding whether one should turn off the power
on a computer or not.
One school says that shutting down the computer entirely eliminates wear and
tear on moving parts, most notably hard disk drives and cooling fans. But
powering up a computer causes a momentary surge of current which can wear out
sensitive integrated circuits.
The other school says that keeping a computer powered up preserves the
electronic parts, which do not receive a slight power surge every time the
computer is powered up. If the operating system AND the motherboard design
together do a superb job of managing standby mode, the hard drive spins down,
the CPU generates less heat, and the cooling fans either stop spinning or spin
only occasionally. Unfortunately, neither Microsoft nor motherboard
manufacturers have gotten standby mode to be 100% foolproof. Not yet.
Certainly if one lives in an area of unreliable electric power, powering down
the computer is probably best. When electrical current returns after a power
outage, it sometimes surges and burns out the power supply, occasionally taking
other components out if the surge is strong enough.
I've been a member of the former school of thought ever since the days of the
original IBM PC. My reasoning is that the data on the hard drive of my computer
is the most valuable and most difficult to replace (even with regular backups).
If the computer is powered down when not in use for extended periods of time (my
rule of thumb is 3 or 4 hours), and it is protected by a good quality surge
protector, then the hard disk will escape damage from transient power surges and
other unpleasant electrical phenomena. EVERYTHING else in a computer can be
replaced at reasonable cost. The data on the hard disk cannot.
The choice is yours. I've tried to provide an objective view of both sides of
the argument... Ben Myers
On 20 Oct 2004 01:04:16 -0700,
(Russell W. Barnes)
wrote:
Thanks, guys...
I fitted a new graphics card (NVIDIA BFG with 64M ram), and all now
OK. Considering I don't do games, there are all sorts of twiddles on
this new card!
My normal practice is to leave the PC switched on (Presario 5000
5WV254), and - when finished - put it into standby and turn the
monitor off altogether, switching it on when next needed, and thus
avoiding 'standby' mode (unless away for a short time). Is this wise
practise? I remember years ago, on my old 8088 IBM, having trouble if
I switched the monitor off, but I thought things had come on since
then.
--
Regds,
Russell W. B.
http://www.huttonrow.co.uk
I'll place my money on the video card, especially if the inside of the computer
chassis has/had a lot of dust and dirt inside. If the nVidia card has a fan
clogged with dust, the graphics chip can overheat with resulting unpredictable
operation. nVidia cards have a reputation for hot chips in more ways than one.
The transistors inside a chip begin to break down when a chip is overheated for
too long of a period of time... Ben Myers
On 19 Oct 2004 00:59:30 -0700, (Russell W. Barnes)
wrote:
Dear all,
Your assistance is required once again...
When I tried to 'wake up' my PC last night (Compaq Presario 5000 with
MV540 monitor), the PC burst into life, but the monitor remained on
stand-by.
after switching both PC and monitor on and off repeatedly (I can
ususally hear a relay clicking away when normal wake-up is achieved),
I disconnected the monitor and powered it. It displayed the usual RGB
'check-cable' indication, so I took the monitor to be working OK.
I eventually got the monitor working by removing the video card
(NVIDIA GeForce) and re-fitting it. Everything then powered normally.
Is it likely to be a video card fault, or a motherboard fault? Any
suggestions appreciated!
--
Kind Regds,
Russell W. B.
http://www.huttonrow.co.uk