Do You Turn Off Your Computer at Night?

My only concern is in the rainy season (June-Sept). I live in the lightning capital of the U.S. and would not like to fry my equipment.

For years, I have turned off my computer right before I go to bed. Last week, I went from cable to FIOS (fantastic, but that is another story). The tech who installed the FIOS said that I should always leave it on, as booting and rebooting is hard on the computer.

For example, computers connected to the Internet via DSL or cable modem are vulnerable to hacking if they are still connected. You can either turn off the connection or turn off the computer. You may need to keep the computer turned on, conversely, if the computer is used as a fax machine as well.

However, if you work from home and log into a business, you should definitely turn off the computer at night, or at the very least, log out from the business. Not only does leaving the computer on threaten the security of your personal computer, but it could also give hackers entry to your business.

Sleep mode on computers still uses some electricity, and the most economic thing to do is to turn off the computer at night, especially if you're is penny pinching. Saving electricity also has environmental benefits. Older computers may not have the sleep feature, so if you have an older computer you might want to turn it off to save money. Obviously, laptops, which run on a battery, will have a longer battery life if they are turned off when not in use.

You may turn off the computer out of the common misconception that this will protect the computer from power surges. Actually, this is not the case. Even when people turn off their computer, the computer is still vulnerable to power surges if it's not hooked up to a surge protector. Be sure to purchase a good surge protector and do not skimp on money in this case. Find a well rated one that will protect your computer whether off or on from power surges.

Some computer experts suggest that certain programs benefit from getting a break at night, like Windows®. Turning off the computer at night may help eliminate crashes during the day, since the program is rebooted when the computer is turned on again in the morning.

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. A decade 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.

i'm a turn off.
I've had trouble resurecting win 7 from hibernation if i've left the computer on during the day and been away for an hour or more.

Turn off.

I just KNEW there would be some sass of some sort when I saw you'd replied to this.

You sasser you.