wilkes

After some research, I learned two things.

1. It seems the whole "Shutting Down Is Bad" concept came about because older hard drives couldn't handle it. Frequent starts and stops would cause the hard drive mechanism to wear out much faster than if the drive never spun down. But that was the old days. Modern hard drives are much more reliable and can handle regular shutdowns.

2. It's not the surge itself that blows out old light bulbs, but rather the inconsistent thickness of the bulb's filament. Not really relevant, I know. Just thought I'd throw that in.

Thanks so much redneck. I think I'll be shutting her down.

Personal preference, but...

Some updates do not install until the system is shut down and restarted.

Programs sometimes don't release all the resources they were using when stopped, rebooting helps clean them out. (system slows down)

Every componet has a "end of life" and the longer the equipment is used the closer it gets to that point.

The possibilty of Hackers or intrusion increases when your computer is on and your are away from it.

Power surges or thunder storms can damage the computer even with a good surge protector.

On the other side ever time you turn the computer on you send a small surge through it (for ex. the light bulb usually blows when it is turned on.)

The inconvience of waiting for the computer to boot

I turn mine off if I going to be away more than few minutes

Is is better to leave your pc on all the time or shut it down at night?