Computer - Better to Turn Off or Leave On?

almillar

Switching off and unplugging your desktop enough times will result in the BIOS battery ("coin" battery on the motherboard, which maintains the BIOS) failing

It'll fail anyway after some years.

The result of that is often a motherboard failure

Where on earth did you get this from?

The battery is a replaceable part of the mobo, just like it is on a remote control. Battery failure might mean that the BIOS settings are lost, and you'll need to set it up again (a pain, I admit), but that's not failure.

Both lost the BIOS, which had to be reset

Yes, that's what happens. That's NOT a failure. And it'll happen whether you turn the PC off or leave it on.

I have had this very problem with one pc that gets powered down when not in use. Now the bios loses its settings everytime its turned off and has to be reset each time.

CHANGE THE BATTERY! It's replaceable for a reason - because it will run out - whether you turn your PC off or not.

If you catch it quickly enough - time not being right in the BIOS after computer has been off for a while being a good indicator - you can replace the battery in lots of mobos without losing settings.

spud17

I recently picked up an old PC, P4 1.7GHz 512 MB ram etc.
It booted up perfectly, date was correct, the time was a few minutes out because it had not been able to sync with a time server due to the fact that it had not been turned on since 2013.
I know the last bit because I checked in Event viewer.

Please explain this Robisere.

prowla

Actually, one model of Sun workstation used to have its battery in the IDPROM, so when it went you had to replace the chip.

Now that was a rubbish design!

http://obsolyte.com/sunFAQ/faq_nvram.html

esuhl

Both lost the BIOS, which had to be reset

almillar wrote: »

Yes, that's what happens. That's NOT a failure. And it'll happen whether you turn the PC off or leave it on.

I'd consider losing the BIOS on a PC a failure! The BIOS is stored in non-volatile memory, meaning that it doesn't need electrical power to retain code.

The only times I've seen a BIOS "lost" is when a manual flashing process was interrupted by power failure or incompatible firmware was used.

It's the CMOS settings (the values used by the BIOS) that are stored in volatile memory and need power from the button battery. If the battery dies, you lose the CMOS values, but not the BIOS.

prowla

esuhl wrote: »

I'd consider losing the BIOS on a PC a failure! The BIOS is stored in non-volatile memory, meaning that it doesn't need electrical power to retain code.

The only times I've seen a BIOS "lost" is when a manual flashing process was interrupted by power failure or incompatible firmware was used.

It's the CMOS settings (the values used by the BIOS) that are stored in volatile memory and need power from the button battery. If the battery dies, you lose the CMOS values, but not the BIOS.

Actually, you are right - the BIOS is the Basic Input-Output Subsystem, which is a small builtin program designed to boot the computer to the point it can read its OS from the hard disk (or other media).

The CMOS/EEPROM/NVRAM is a small memory module which holds the settings which the BIOS uses, and is typically battery-backed.

ptoner27

Leaving on allows for essential software updates to run in the middle of the night if that's what you prefer

Strider590

ptoner27 wrote: »

Leaving on allows for essential software updates to run in the middle of the night if that's what you prefer

Depends on what time you've got auto update set for.

I tend to leave mine running most nights because it's the only time I can run deep malware scans without interfering with what i'm doing.

I still NEVER turn it off at the mains.
The only time I ever did was a couple years ago when I went on holiday for 2 weeks, I came back, turned it on and the MOV (metal oxide varistor) in the PSU (not a cheap one) went into meltdown, massive blue sparks, lots of black smoke and a new PSU required.

prowla

ptoner27 wrote: »

Leaving on allows for essential software updates to run in the middle of the night if that's what you prefer

You wouldn't want to do that, especially since the latest Windows 7 ones include the Windows 10 upgrade by default!

RumRat

Does it all really matter?
Has anyone actually changed their routine as a result of this thread?
I'm guessing the vast majority have their thoughts on the subject well and truly ingrained.
Personally, I power down last thing at night and leave it to sleep when not in use during the day.
None of my machines has ever broken before they have been replaced.
We have office ones that have been on for years.....With only necessary reboots.
My Father-in-law switches his off at the mains after powering down and has done so for years, his has never had any problems.
Whatever makes you comfortable and fits in with your usage, is the best way to go it seems.

Robisere

No. it doesn't matter and everyone is entitled to a POV.

'scue me whilst I retrieve all these thrown Teddy Bears...