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fyrmedic

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 19, 2005
93
0
Whats the deal with computers. should I leave it on or turn it off? Does turning a computer on and off shorten it's life?
 
Yes, turning the computer on and off wears on the components the most.

Putting it to sleep is more gentle.
 
My computers (iMac & PB) stay on 24/7. The iMac uses 8.8 watts with the display sleeping, so it's not bad on the electric bill.
 
Hmmm. i am new to macs, but i always thought it was good to turn off the comp at night?
 
i4k20c said:
Hmmm. i am new to macs, but i always thought it was good to turn off the comp at night?

No, macs run scripts at night to clean up the discs and make sure every works smoothly. I leave my computer on 24/7. I just have it so that the monitor turns off if it's inactive for more then 3 minutes.
 
rickvanr said:
No, macs run scripts at night to clean up the discs and make sure every works smoothly. I leave my computer all 24/7. I just have it so that the monitor turns off if it's inactive for more then 3 minutes.
Are these checks performed in sleep, or only when it's fully "on"?
 
pdpfilms said:
Are these checks performed in sleep, or only when it's fully "on"?

Only if it's fully on. One option is to set the schedule in Energy Saver to have your computer wake up a couple minutes before the tasks usually run then go back to sleep an hour later. I thought the tasks ran around 2am though.
 
You're computer is more prone to breaking if you turn it on and off constantly. OS X is fine to run for long periods of time, although it's good to quit Safari, etc. every once in awhile and open it up again, which makes the program run a little smoother.
 
I never even put my computer to sleep, I just have it put the display to sleep. It's not the best for your power bill, but it won't hurt your computer at all.
 
rickvanr said:
No, macs run scripts at night to clean up the discs and make sure every works smoothly. I leave my computer on 24/7. I just have it so that the monitor turns off if it's inactive for more then 3 minutes.

If you're running 10.4.1 or higher, there is no need to leave it on at night to run the scripts. See the following thread and the thread that is mentioned in the following thread.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/157619/
 
ok, so Apple doesn't specify when the computers do the maintenance? I can't leave my computer on at night, i have to close it up. (see sig).


Can't i tell the computer to do clean up tasks?

and what happens if i tell my powerbook to turn on, but its closed?
 
gekko513 said:
Yes, turning the computer on and off wears on the components the most.

Putting it to sleep is more gentle.


I never understood that. Putting it to sleep causes it to:
Spin down the HD [Just as if it were off]
Turn off the display [Just as if it were off]
Stop any spinning media [Just as if it were off]
idle internal components [Just as if it were off]

Seems to me that putting it to sleep is almost the exact same thing as shutting the computer down... How is it that turning it off cause more wear?
 
rickvanr said:
No, macs run scripts at night to clean up the discs and make sure every works smoothly. I leave my computer on 24/7. I just have it so that the monitor turns off if it's inactive for more then 3 minutes.

so the script will work once a day? I got PowerBook 12" and leave it 24/7 and the adaptor always plugged in to the power. however I didn't notice that my mac launch any script at night, and I didn't also notice about the change in the next day.

For the desktop I think it's better to put it into sleep mode, but for laptop, turn it off to conserve the battery. Although the safest is to plug out the adapter and from the power outlet to prevent from the electric fault that will ruin your CPU or your modem during rainy day. :)
 
CalGrunt said:
If you're running 10.4.1 or higher, there is no need to leave it on at night to run the scripts. See the following thread and the thread that is mentioned in the following thread.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/157619/

I don't leave it on to run the scripts, I leave it on to keep the internet connection active so people can leave me IMs and not have to bother emailing me. Also, that way i dont have to wait the 2 seconds to wake it up all the time :p
 
i was just going to start a thread on this today! is it ok to leave a powerbook on overnight? it goes to sleep when i go out, i'm just a bit afraid that it'll get too warm or something (this is my first mac and first laptop in one!! :D). it's on aux power with about 3 apps running.
 
I have a Powerbook 400MHz (yes i know my sig is wrong, my dad just got a new computer, so i got his old one! ill update it after this reply), i bring it to school everyday, is it ok to leave it on while it is in the laptop bag in the car and also when it sits in my locker (most of the day). at present i turn it off at night, take it to school, turn it on, use it, turn it off, bring it home, turn it on, repeat step 1,
 
Worth noting that, depending on your computer, leaving it on 24X7 can get pricey; at around 120W idling, assuming you use your computer 8 hours a day (that's assuming you work 8 hours a day and spend most of your awake time at home on the computer), it adds up to 16X120W = 2KWh/day. At what I pay for electricity that works out to just shy of $7 a month. Sleep would save a little more (unlike previous towers, the G5s have some sort of hard switch so they use nearly nothing off, but about 10W asleep), but it's not nearly as big of a difference.

Personally, environmental concerns aside, $85/year is enough reason alone to put my G5 to sleep--that's a 250GB hard drive for the few minutes of cumulative inconvienence. Not as big a number with an iMac or laptop, but it's still money.

As far as wear-and-tear, if the drives are awake all the time, then it's probably a little harder on them being on 24X7 (not as bad as if they were being accessed 24X7, which most consumer drives apparently aren't built for, but they're still hot all that time), but most people sleep the drives periodically anyway, so it's the same. The only other moving part is the fan, which is definitely going to last longer being turned off 2/3 of the time. Nothing else really "wears out" one way or the other, so it doesn't matter one way or the other.

The cron jobs are the only issue, but it ain't worth that kind of money (and noise--my house is small) to get them run every night when it doesn't make that much difference anyway. I'm occasionally up at 4:30am anyway, so they happen then, and I'll take the 30 seconds to run 'em manually every once in a while just in case.

According to my logs, 10.4.2 doesn't have them running on wake every night, but the monthly job hasn't been skipped since I installed 10.4.1, so apparently *something* got changed, anyway.
 
Makosuke said:
Worth noting that, depending on your computer, leaving it on 24X7 can get pricey; at around 120W idling, assuming you use your computer 8 hours a day (that's assuming you work 8 hours a day and spend most of your awake time at home on the computer), it adds up to 16X120W = 2KWh/day. At what I pay for electricity that works out to just shy of $7 a month. Sleep would save a little more (unlike previous towers, the G5s have some sort of hard switch so they use nearly nothing off, but about 10W asleep), but it's not nearly as big of a difference.

Personally, environmental concerns aside, $85/year is enough reason alone to put my G5 to sleep--that's a 250GB hard drive for the few minutes of cumulative inconvienence. Not as big a number with an iMac or laptop, but it's still money.

As far as wear-and-tear, if the drives are awake all the time, then it's probably a little harder on them being on 24X7 (not as bad as if they were being accessed 24X7, which most consumer drives apparently aren't built for, but they're still hot all that time), but most people sleep the drives periodically anyway, so it's the same. The only other moving part is the fan, which is definitely going to last longer being turned off 2/3 of the time. Nothing else really "wears out" one way or the other, so it doesn't matter one way or the other.

The cron jobs are the only issue, but it ain't worth that kind of money (and noise--my house is small) to get them run every night when it doesn't make that much difference anyway. I'm occasionally up at 4:30am anyway, so they happen then, and I'll take the 30 seconds to run 'em manually every once in a while just in case.

According to my logs, 10.4.2 doesn't have them running on wake every night, but the monthly job hasn't been skipped since I installed 10.4.1, so apparently *something* got changed, anyway.


can sombody tell me more about these scripts that run at night? I have never left my computer on all night so have these scripts ever run? do I need them to?
 
fyrmedic said:
can sombody tell me more about these scripts that run at night? I have never left my computer on all night so have these scripts ever run? do I need them to?

Read post #12. To repeat, if you are using 10.4.1 or higher, you do NOT need to leave your computer on all night to run these scripts. They will run periodically throughout the day and when you first wake up your computer.
 
I'm using Panther so normally I run those scripts manually and my Mac is put to auto-sleep when inactive. Once a week, I restart to reset. :)
 
fayans said:
I'm using Panther so normally I run those scripts manually and my Mac is put to auto-sleep when inactive. Once a week, I restart to reset. :)
Can sombody explain. reeaalll slooowww how to manually run scripts I still have panther and am very confused.:confused:
 
blaskillet4 said:
I never understood that. Putting it to sleep causes it to:
Spin down the HD [Just as if it were off]
Turn off the display [Just as if it were off]
Stop any spinning media [Just as if it were off]
idle internal components [Just as if it were off]

Seems to me that putting it to sleep is almost the exact same thing as shutting the computer down... How is it that turning it off cause more wear?
Good points, but sleep doesn't require the startup sequence neither the hardware checks, nor the software part.
 
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