🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <hart.650028982@blackjack> hart@blackjack.dt.navy.mil (Michael Hart) writes:
>
>>>I have an PC-XT clone w/20meg hard drive which I leave on 24 hrs a
>>>day.  I feel that this is not harmful to the PC itself, but what about
>>>the hard drive?  Any opinions, out there?
>
[Quotes and quoted quotes deleted]
>
>I refer you to the "light bulb law".  That law being: When do light bulbs
>burn out??  _when you turn them on_  There is a large surge of current through

Even though most of the components in a PC are NOT light bulbs ( and don't
behave like one either), I would agree with you that leaving it on is best
if the ONLY consideration was hardware reliability (and it is connected to
a stable power source).  As I see it, however, hardware reliability is not
the only issue and a case can be made for the theory that a properly designed
disk drive will wear out from heat and friction and dirt before it will
suffer any electrical damage from being started and stopped once a day.
I think that all the energy wasted by millions of PCs left on 128 hours a
week when they are not being used is a bigger and more important issue than 
whether or not it will extend your repair cycle from 3 years to 5 years.
There is also a small extra potential for a fire in a running device.

I have been in the computer industry for close to 25 years, mostly as a
technician.  I have weighed all the arguments and I have decided to turn
MY machines off when they will not be needed for 6 hours or more.  I even
turn the Xenix box off over the weekends.  

Like a lot of other things in modern life, this is not strictly a technical
call but it has some moral undertones too.   Make your own call but don't
overlook part of the factors in the process.

-- 
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Ken Abrams                     uunet!pallas!kabra437
Illinois Bell                  kabra437@athenanet.com
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