LM_NET: Library Media Networking
Hi, all:
most of those who responded say that they SHOULD be turned off. Read on for
details.....
**********
if you live on the west coast these days, absolutely!
**********
We are on a network and we're told we must shut down every day at the end of
school so they can run backups at the central office. For my home computer,
I shut it down when I'm not using it. Old habits die hard. I turn off lights
when I leave the room too.
*********
I think there are a lot of conflicting views on whether or not to turn
computers off daily. But the real problem lies in power outages and surges.
The surges can blow up your computers - so in my mind it is more important
to make sure all the computers are surge protected. Then it won't make any
difference if they are on or off. However, if you are in an area where
there are electrical surges the best plan might be to unplug the computers
in addition to turning them off. If they are unplugged the surge can't go
through them.
*********
I am at a middle school where teachers are asked to turn off
computers every day, however, I only turn the monitor off Mon.- Thurs. and
shut down on weekends (if I remember)
*******
I turn off my home and work computers every day because the RAM slowly
fills, so if I leave it on, I eventually get "out of memory" errors and
end up restarting anyway. I think a reboot a day helps keep corruption
problems away.
*******
We are told NEVER to shut to computers off. Tech works after hours and need
to
be able to access the computers from the BIG one!!!!! IF there is a power
outage, the computers go off and then reboot when the power comes on. Just
need
power strips that prevent surges. We only shut them off at the end of the
school
year when everything is disconnected and cleaned etc.
*******
I didn't weigh in on this because I thought you would receive many responses
similar to what I would say, but apparently not.
We turn all our computers off at night because of back up. The network
backs up all computers on the network each night at midnight, and has to
boot computers off if they are still signed on.
We also have power problems often enough that I wouldn't want to leave them
on at night. There are Uninterruptible Power Supply batteries connected to
the 3 servers for the school.
*********
I just found out about turning off computers every day. I had always kept
mine on...then I learned that the virtual memory needs to be cleared; if
it's
not, and it gets too congested, you're asking for computer freezes and
unstability. Check the performance when you first turn it on, and then at
the end of the day. If there's no difference, don't worry about turning it
off.
This holds true for PCs...I don't know about Macs.
*********
I didn't reply originally, but as I read your hit, I thought of our
policy here and what our tech boys say: they tell us to turn our computers
off
every afternoon because they do things to programs e.g. our gradebook,
attendance, etc., and they tell us it could damage some of those programs.
Sometimes they turn computers off. I would think if all programs are closed
it
wouldn't matter, but they're the tech guys; I'm not. I think a UPS gives you
only a few minutes to shut down your computer. That's the way the ones I've
always had work. Just thought I'd add that to your personal info for
whatever
it is worth.
**********
I must have missed your original post. I turn off the Mac everyday (because
our Mac tech person said to originally) and used to turn off my old PCs as
well. When I bought my new ones (prior to Y2K) I was told NOT to turn them
off unless we were going to be closed for several days because they were
designed to be left on. I do have good surge suppressors but they can't
stop lightning so I DO turn them off during storms. I generally will turn
them off over weekends but most of the time I don't even think about it
anymore.
***********
Sorry I didn't notice the TARGET query. Yes, it's controversial but it is
due to changes over time (whoa - 10 whole years!). Ten years ago it was fine
to leave them on, even without going to sleep or suspend mode. They just
didn't eat up that much power nor were they all that complicated. Today they
suck tremendous power but that is usually offset by energy saving measures
(control panels settings). The more pressing issue is that today's operating
systems, whether Win, Mac, or Linux, are such cumbersome beasts, having many
many files constantly running in the background. The act of shutting down
helps the system "reset" itself, make note of where all it's settings and
preferences are, and other type stuff for which I don't have the jargon. I'm
not a real techie - just a librarian who has had the questionable fortune to
assist managing the care of over 100 units of Win and Mac OS's over the
years. It's been my own experience that about Win 95 and Mac OS 8 I began
having less problems when machines were shut down regularly. In my library
they are set to shut down automatically every evening. I shut my laptop down
about every 2 days, likewise our machines at home. As for Mac machines I
can not stress enough the benefit of rebuilding the desktop *at least* once
a month.
***********
we have to turn ours off everyday. We were told our computers are
set to back up daily transaction info on a back-up tape at a certain time
every night and won't do it if all are turned on. We have to turn off all
but the main server every day. It is kind of pestery to have to turn off
and on 6 search computers, check-out station computer, and librarian's
office computer at the end of the day all the time.....grrrrr.
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We are a big district with over 5000 computers. We turn them off daily. It
clears out virtual memory, and our energy expert informs me that there is
evidence that computers last longer (fewer heat related problems) when they
are shut down at night. Even with enegy saving features, our district saves
thousand of dollars each year by shutting evrything down. The only we leave
on are the servers.
************
One day I was working at my computer and smoke started to come out of the
monitor -- I shut them off.
***********
Thanks for all your responses.
Carol Valdez, Librarian
Salvador Garcia Middle School
499 Pena Dr.
Laredo, TX 78046
956.724.4113
fax: 956.724.6566
cvaldez@united.isd.tenet.edu
http://www.united.isd.tenet.edu/middle/sgm/
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