I shut my computer off at night if I'm not downloading/uploading.
I've heard the #1 part of your computer to go bad is the power supply. I have had one go bad and my APC power supply kicked out the power because the current draw way too high. I'd like to think it saved me from having the problem BC had about a year ago.
@BearCat - Did you have your system connected to APC backup or something like it or rather just plugged in the wall? My power supply failure didn't happen at startup, it happened in the night while I slept while the computer was on.
I found this interesting:
Turning your PC on and off wears it out. Five or more years 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.
five-to-seven-year life span don't seem long enough for me. I have a 7 year old HD (10GB Quantum) in my system right now.
I wish Windows would allow me to select different power setting for each of my HD's. I'd like to leave my C: run all the time and my other HD's shut off after 30 minutes.*
Good thread*
