I have recently set up my Win 98, 300mhz P11 computer to do a virus
scan, scan disk, defrag, and then a re- boot every night between 3 AM
and 6 AM. I like the idea of a "fresh" start each day and things seem
to run cleaner and faster. I turn the display off as it is a power
gobbling 19" CRT.
My question:

Does all this unattended nightly activity in any way hurt my computer,
e.g., does running the HD 24/7 wear it out faster than on-off cycling
it each day? It's a Maxtor 20 ghz, 5400 rpm unit about 3 years old.

TIA

bobster did mumble u5MOb.98141$xy6.176228@attbi_s02...

Whichever is your preference...

Read these:
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mturnoff.html
http://www.howstuffworks.com/question328.htm
http://www.pcguide.com/care/care/gen/powerOnOff-c.html
http://www.phoenix360.com/tech/datad...2.asp?did=1749
http://www.insllc.net/insllc/articles/shutdown.htm
http://www.bcentral.com/articles/enbysk/158.asp

They all say pretty much the same thing:
-Leaving it on will not hurt your computer.
-Leaving it on will save you 'boot time'
-Turning it off will save you money (energy consumption)
-Turning it off will take longer to boot (than leaving it on.. of course)
--
~SF~
The problem with America is stupidity. I'm not saying there should be a
capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety
labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself? -Unknown

<SNIP>> I have recently set up my Win 98, 300mhz P11 computer to do a virus
computer,
Well ... finally the electronics I learned in a USN submarine comes in
handy.

The deal is this. Every time you turn your computer on power runs through
the circuits much like water in your household plumbing. There are the
inevitable and normal surges in voltage which bang into relatively fragile
circuits, chips, capacitators, resistors & etc. and, similar to your
household plumbing, any coupling or attachment that is not in perfect shape
is suddenly susceptible to springing a leak each time the system powers up.
Constant pressure is better than sporatic pressure. So, while your computer
doesn't seem much like your household plumbing, it still works in a similar
manner.

Also in respect to the mechanics of things ... things in motion tend to stay
in motion, things at rest tend to stay at rest ... think of a car on a cold
morning. Start-up time is always the worst time for a mechanism. Heck ... I
need six cups of coffee and a kick in the ass myself.

Also in regard to loading start-up commands and operating systems (and
shutting them down) that's a good opportunity to lose a few of those pesky
zeros and ones ... a few might not matter but a cumulative few can become
many pretty fast.

I suggest to all my clientele that they leave their units on unless they
want to shut them down on weekends or holidays. Personally all I do is thumb
off my monitor come the end of the day.

So ... I don't know about the entire routine of scan, scandisk, defrag every
night, it seems to me that is a bit of overkill ... I do those on a weekly
basis unless I am moving around alot of major files but the re-boot aspect I
believe saves you nothing and just puts wear and tear on your circuitry.

This is of course just my opinion with alot of support from the US Navy
- Bay0Wulf

Thanks to everyone for your helpful support

@}-}-------Rosee wrote:

Is it okay for hard drives to get hot? I opened my tower and the metallic
casing of my two HDs are HOT HOT HOT to touch... is that bad for them? I've
currently got the tower open with a fan blowing on them, just in case.