The Great Debate: ON OR OFF? By Dick Estel & Rolf Miller Your mother always told you turn off the light when you left the room. However, the question of whether to turn your computer off at the end of the day continues to be a subject of debate. Obviously there are computers being used for bulletin board systems, for home security, and to control or monitor equipment that stay on all the time. There are users who say they leave their Commodores on all or most of the time, and claim they have not had any problems. Others turn them off even for a short break. The typical middle ground is, once it's on, leave it on till you finish for the day. FCUG member Del Contreras has worked on all kinds of technical equipment over the years, including Commodore and PC computers. His advice is to turn them off, at least at the end of the day, on the grounds that all equipment generates heat, and heat will ultimately cause damage. Most new PC's these days come with a "sleep mode" option, which usually turns off the monitor and keyboard; and presumably reduces the amount of power used. The main CPU stays active, and in fact, usually performs various automatic system tasks such as scanning the hard drive for errors. The existence of this feature does not automatically mean that PC makers think that having the power on all the time will have no affect on the life of the machine. In fact, PC manufacturers assume most PC users will buy a replacement long before the product wears out mechanically. My own approach is to leave my computer on for the day once I turn it on. I usually turn my PC off at night, since when I go to bed, it's going to be 20 hours or so before I touch it again. Heading into the weekend, when I will probably use it off and on throughout the day, I usually leave it on from Friday morning till Sunday night (it's programmed to perform some maintenance jobs automatically during the day every Friday). My Commodores, which are cheaper to replace but have no sleep mode, go off at the end of each day. Now here are some more words on the subject from Rolf Miller, editor of the CIVIC 64/128 Gazette, newsletter of the Oxnard club, published in the February 1997 issue: It is debated whether the computer should be left on or turned off when not in use. Those who argue for leaving it on point out that the computer's innards are stressed most at turn on. And it is at turn on that most failures occur. Those who argue for turning off point out that leaving it on all the time exposes it to the danger of power outages and other interruptions. Unlike the initial bump the computer experiences at turn on, power outages produce a series of jolts not unlike rapidly flipping the switch on and off repeatedly. A person need only watch the flickering of lights that accompanies a power failure to get an idea of what's happening inside the computer. Then, when power is restored, a rougher ride occurs from the on again, off again, on again surges associated with re-energizing circuits. And this jarring go-around is nothing compared to the violence a lightning strike can wreak. Certainly, turning off between sessions doesn't eliminate the risk of a power outage while the computer is in use. But, given time and chance, odds favor avoiding some interruptions. And if the lights do go out, equipment can be turned off until after the power comes back. Turning off is also the prudent course during any thunderstorm. Finally, Doug Cunningham, another resident technician with Fresno Commodore User Group, weighs in with some final thoughts: I don't believe this debate will ever be solved using today's technology but rest assured some day this debate will come to an end. Both sides of this debate make very good points, so pick the one you like and follow it. But!!! Whatever theory you prefer do not forget about the monitor. When you leave the monitor on without any change in the image for long periods of time, it will burn that image onto the inside of the screen. The best way around this is to run a screen saver. A screen saver keeps the image on the monitor changing all the time so no image has a chance to burn in. If you don't have a screen saver just turn off the monitor and leave the computer on. But don't get carried away. If you are just going to take a break for a little while don't worry about it. For you PC users don't forget about cleaning your fans. Yes, I said fans. All PC's have a fan in the power supply and if you have a 486 or above you will more than likely have a fan on the CPU. Also, if you have a tower and it sits on the floor, the dirt pulled in by the fan will build up even faster. If the fan in the power supply stops, the power supply will overheat and you will get bad voltages out of it that can damage any component in your computer. Also if you leave your computer on all the time you need to check the fans even more frequently. Both of these fans can cause high dollar repairs. By keeping them clean you can save yourself a lot of money and aggravation. From The Interface, newsletter of Fresno Commodore User Group via the Commodore Information Center http://home.att.net/~rmestel/commodore.html