Should I turn off my computer when I’m not using it?

I often get asked this question. While you will often get different answers from different people – I leave my computer on most of the time. Every few days I will restart it, and occasionally I will turn it off overnight.

Consider this: The most wear and tear on your computer, car, etc. is when you start it up. The more frequently you turn off and on your computer, the more likely it is to fail. I like to use the analogy of a light bulb – when you turn on the light switch is usually the time the bulb burns out. Similar with your computer, it’s most likely to fail when you switch in ‘on’. The less you switch it ‘on’, the less likely it will fail.

Also similar to a car’s engine, excessive heating and cool down of a computer’s hard drive and other components will shorten the life of those parts.