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Is it safe to leave a computer on permanently?

1. Why do you want to have it running all the time? If it is just to save time with the startup process in the morning, I would turn it off. If you want to use remote access software to work with your files from home then you will have to leave it on.

2. Things that go bump in the night. In Darwin we have a lot of powerful thunderstorms in the wet season and unless you have a good quality UPS & lightning arrestor systems you may come to work and find your machine fried. More likely if you have a phone line connection via a modem.

3. Things that go poof in the night. We have been networked since 1987 and have had 3 CPUs catch fire, fortunately while we were all on deck. In 2 cases there were lots of black smoke and panic and internal meltdown but in one case there was flame, so I suppose it is possible to come to work and find everything fried.

4. When we want to work with files at home we print a copy of the entire patient record(notes, reports, correspondence) to an email message & send this to our home address via QuickMail UUCP Any reports or letters concerning the patient generated at home are then printed and sent by email to the surgery domain where they await at your workstation the next morning for import to the patient file.

HTH

Wal

1. I send and receive all my faxes with WinFaxPro through a second line coming into my home office (it's very cheap and highly recommended) - people go crazy if they can't get through because either someone is talking on your only line, or the computer is switched off unable to receive faxes.

2. It's very convenient - you simply sit down and start using the computer instead of waiting up to a minute for everything to load at bootup.

3. Power minimisation utilities, inbuilt with most new systems sold these days, means that the monitor, hard drive and CPU are powered down and use only a few Watts of power (all powering back up with just a touch of the mouse).

4. People tell me that computers indeed all CPUs do not like being 'jolted' with power surges at power switch-on - that is they prefer to run all the time.

5. Remote computer access requires that your PC is on, if you want files from your home (or surgery) PC while you are away from either.

6. All of my family (from age 3 and up) use the computer for an enormous range of activities that just seems to be growing every day - it would be switched on and off more times that the toilet seat goes up and down, I reckon.

The DISADVANTAGES of permanent PC operation include

1. You're permanently connected, so one day a hacker could chance upon your telephone number and dial in by modem connection and potentially stuff up your system. You need to set up you system to prevent this to the extent possible.

2. Power surges from either the electricity company or a distant lightning bolt could potentially fry your system. The power surge through the power cord, the lightning bolt through the telephone cord into your modem. There are products designed to prevent both.

3. You're walking past the computer and you can't resist the urge to do something just becuase it's on - you can spend a lot of time getting fat and unfit in front of your PC (like me).   Hope this helps.   ANDREW JACKSON

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