RECOMMENDATION Shut your computer down every night

TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER

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RECOMMENDATION
Shut your computer down every night. If you're going to be gone several days unplug the computer from the wall and unplug the phone line from the wall.

COST
A typical desktop PC system comprises the computer itself (the CPU or box), a monitor, and printer. A typical PC system can use 110 to 300 watts of electricity or more. This can add up if the devices are not powered down.The worst-case scenario is you run the computer 24 hours a day x 300 watts x 365 days a year x $0.12 per kilowatt-hour. This equals $300 per year, assuming $.12 per kWh.

WEARS OUT PARTS
You are wearing your fan motor out and pulling dust thru your computer. Your hard drive may be running more. If you get a big surge of electricity that jumps your surge protector, it may save your computer by having it turned off.

SURGE PROTECTION
Your surge protector is passive and works whether it is turned off or on. When it is off, the surge has to jump the surge protector AND the switch to get to your computer.

HACKERS
If your computer is "always on" you provide more opportunities for hackers to find your computer.

SYSTEM HEALTH
It's not unusual to get low on system resources after you use Windows for a long stretch, especially if you open and close programs frequently. Adding RAM doesn't help. System resources are stored in fixed memory blocks that reside in your System RAM. Programs store certain routines inside your system resources. Some programs don't reallocate or release the memory, so after a while your machine gets full. You have to restart Windows to free up memory again. That's why Windows feels more reliable if you start it up fresh every day.

THE ONLY REASONS TO LEAVE IT ON
1. You are on a network that backs up your files to the server at a certain time each night and the network administrator tells you to leave it on.
2. Your machine is a server that needs to be accessed by other computers.
3. You are running a program that must compile data 24hrs a day.

MYTHS

Turning your PC off uses more energy than leaving it on. Not true. The small surge of power you use when turning it on — which varies per PC make and model — is still much smaller than the amount you use in keeping it on for lengthy periods.
Turning your PC on and off wears it out. Five or more years ago, there was something to this, but not today, say Hershberg and others. It used to be that PC hard disks did not automatically park their heads when shut off, and that frequent on/off cycling could damage the hard disks. Today's PCs are designed to handle 40,000 on/off cycles before a failure, and that's a number you likely won't reach during the computer's five-to-seven-year life span.
Screen savers save energy. Not true. Screen savers, at a minimum, can use 42 watts; those with 3D graphics can use as much as 114.5 watts, according to Don McCall, a Dell product marketing manager who does power measurement studies for the PC manufacturer. "It's absolutely wrong thinking that a screen saver will save energy," he says.
Your computer uses zero energy when "off." That's true only if it is unplugged. Otherwise, the PC utilizes "flea power," or about 2.3 watts, to maintain local-area network connectivity, among other things, McCall says. In "hibernate" mode, your PC uses the same 2.3 watts; in "sleep" mode, your PC uses about 3.1 watts. Monitors do use zero energy when turned off.