How long can a computer run non stop?

[flutiefanatic]

I have 2 computers running using cemu.I have a large family.We have 3 receivers running.I try to shut 1 down at some point every day for atleast a few hours.Just wondering if I need to worry about continuous running.They should be outside getting exercise!Grandparents are constantly watching news channells,children cartoons and a few of us keeping up in the sports world.Can I just let computers run for days at a time?will it shorten the life of anything?Can they overheat?

Thanks

[leet83]

there should not be a problem, computers are built to be kept on, if anything turning them off and on stresses them more than keeping them on.

[reb43]

there should not be a problem, computers are built to be kept on, if anything turning them off and on stresses them more than keeping them on.

I agree

[JT]

Yep. Puters are designed to stay running 24/7 365. If it's getting hot you add a case fan.

[supadaveo]

When I was emulating DTV with my old H-card, my emu computer would run for month at a time, come to think of it, i think at one point, I didnt turn it off for over a full year.....

[OSTthug2k]

I have 6 PC's I turn all of them off 1 every 3 weeks for a few hours. Laptops on the other hand are differrent they aren't supposed to be left on for so long.

[SatJumper]

The secret of a long life computer is running it through a APC power backup & surge protecting device. This will keep any voltage spicks out and if you have a power lose at your house, this will keep power on your computer.

At our company we install them on every piece of electronic equipment that we install.

The big kill factor is power lose, spikes and surges.

Here is the link to APC and the model UPS units that we use.

http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=21

http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=220

I even have them at my house on my Satellite reciever, DVD player and computers.

I will power down the equipment a few times a year for maintance which I use an air compressor to blow the units out from dust that they will alway catch and anything else that likes to craw inside of them !!!

Be sure and un-plug your devices that you are servicing, and use an air compressor with a water filer trap on it which catches any type of moisture that comes out of the tank...you don't want any water in the units !!!!

Thats it....these units sell for around $ 39.95 at Comp-USA and will be the best investment that you have ever made for protecting your electronics.

[BiggerBear]

Make sure you clean the inside every few months.
Keep it in an area that gets good air flow.

[space_cowboy]

I have a novell server been running without being turned off for 3 years and 2 months. It stays up with a APC1500 ups.

[JT]

Belkin surge protectors and backup power supplies are nicer than APC in most cases. They usually cost more too. The principle remains the same though.

[flutiefanatic]

Thanks ALL!

[cancom]

[1] Life expectancy of a computer is 10 milliseconds or 10,000 years
[2] Turning it on and off cuts component life considerably
[3] emu computers are cheap like borscht....unlike UPS units.
[4] If it ain't broke don't fix it

Let the damn thing run 24/7/365 till it drops, then chuck it.

[old school]

How about the monitor? I know you can set your pc to go to sleep, but most don't reccomend that. So, will leaving the monitor on shorten the life of it?

[tytyty]

A university somewhere in eastern U.S. (Conneticuit) reported that during a full upgrade from Netware 4.11 to 5.0 they could noy locate one of their servers.

It was running and doing its job but they could not physicall find it aparently the last maintinance had been over a year before. After searching all the computer rooms and labs for 3 months someon noticed a Cat5 cable running under a wall in a server room.

During a remodel the contactors had moved it. built and built a wall (as specified) and it ended up in a wall space approximatly 18" from another wall due to be removed. The second project (tearing out the adjoining wall was cancaled due to budjet concerns so the server just sat there doing its job in the dark. There was a large disscussion on whether to tear down the wall to recover it or let it stay there they finally removed it (with sledghammer) and did not perform the upgrade to avoid power cycling it.

Its still running today as far as anyone knows...

[FreshManDTV]

Of course computers can run 24x365. Leave it running or turn it off is your preference. Turn off and on too often will decrease it life span considerably, but you'll probably need a new computer by that time anyway.

For those who don’t see the need to have computer on 24/24, turn it off at the end of the day is the compromised solution between increase its life span and saving energy.

Put the PC in sleep mode will have almost the same affect as turning the computer off (it'll turn off the monitor, hard drives, and put itself in hibernation, using less energy). The advantage is the PC will come on faster than turn it off.

Monitor's life span is measured in thousand of hours, leave it on unnecessary is a waste of electricity and shorten it usage life. If you don’t need the monitor for some time (i.e.: computer’s running emulation while watch TV), turn it off. Or you can set the computer to turn off the monitor after a period of time. I know you won’t save much money anyway. It’s the good feeling of conservation and saving the environment that count.

Bottom line, don’t sweat it; off or on anyway you like.

[cancom]

How about the monitor? I know you can set your pc to go to sleep, but most don't reccomend that. So, will leaving the monitor on shorten the life of it?

I never have a monitor connected unless troubleshooting a system.
My bootdisk gets a small batch file that plays a tune.
When the tune plays, plug in the IRD.

Answer to your question, YES, you monitor will last much longer powered on in a sleep mode [blackscreen] than turning on/off daily.

cancom

[tbelisle]

Airflo is the key! the cooler it runs, the longer it runs!