How do you turn off your computer (non-arcade)

[CoryBee]

Do you shut it down completely, put it in sleep mode or do you choose to have it hibernate leaving your computer just how you left it.

I hibernate my computer habitually, I always have tabs open in firefox and random programs & documents  that I do not want to save at the moment or just want to leave it open for reference when I come back.

[Nephasth]

I have only turned my computer off a dozen times in nearly 3 years...

[CoryBee]

Haha, it is good to turn your computer off by shutdown every now and then.

I almost always hibernate my system, most times for months on end. But 3 years constantly on??

[Nephasth]

Only turned off for power outages, a move, and to blow the dust out once in a while.

[shponglefan]

Shutdown whenever it's not being used.

[Dervacumen]

I never hibernate or go to sleep.  I shut down in the morning before I go to work about 50% of the time - when I remember - and turn it back on when I get home (roughly 12 hours time lapse.)
I used to leave it on all day, but between this overheating Motorola DSL modem which can now only stay on for about a week without overheating, and a tiered electricity rate it makes sense.  It also saves me about $15 a month.  Firefox saves any tabs I want open upon return, and any docs just get sent to the desktop for easy retrieval.
We have semi frequent power outages here so it's probably in my best interest anyway.

[danny_galaga]

When I'm done using it, I shut it down. I don't understand why you wouldn't in an average home environment? Why waste power? Unless it's downloading stuff of course 

Also, I used to live in a city that had the highest lightning strike rate of any city in the world, so it was a good habit to get into...

[05SRT4]

I shut mine down. With the SSD drive its only take a few seconds to boot up so its not this all day event that some people complain about.

[MD Draco]

Ctrl + opt +cmd + eject seems to do the trick for me!! Otherwise, I close the lid and let is sleep, though I make sure to shut down / restart every few days!! Age old adage stands true: "have you tried turning it off and on again"

[Howard_Casto]

When I'm done using it, I shut it down. I don't understand why you wouldn't in an average home environment? Why waste power? Unless it's downloading stuff of course 

Also, I used to live in a city that had the highest lightning strike rate of any city in the world, so it was a good habit to get into...

Because it's hard to "look something up right quick" when you've gotta wait for your computer to boot up. 

My pc is never turned off, I simply turn off the monitor when not in use.  All of the windows power saving features (power down hard drives ect) are in place.  You'd be surprised how little power a pc uses when it is in idle. 

[Louis Tully]

.

[drventure]

I generally don't power mine done. Of course, I work from home, so I'm on it pretty constantly, and the power consumed otherwise just isn't worth the hassle of powering down, from the numbers I ran. Now, if I was at an office all day, things might be a little different.

As far as lightning goes, just powering down won't save you, I know that all too well 

When a severe storm is brewing, I power down, unplug and make sure any wired connections (modems, cable TV, power cords, etc) are disconnected.

[J_K_M_A_N]

I leave mine on all day. I work from home 3 days a week and I log in from work all the time. To download or whatever. Not worth shutting it down. I also run an FTP for my son and brother to get stuff from me.

J_K_M_A_N

[Howard_Casto]

As far as lightning goes, just powering down won't save you, I know that all too well 
When a severe storm is brewing, I power down, unplug and make sure any wired connections (modems, cable TV, power cords, etc) are disconnected.

I just have the thing insured via the warranty on my UPS....  If I did all of that mess every time a storm came around I'd never be on my pc... I'd always be plugging/unplugging cables. 

[drventure]

I just have the thing insured via the warranty on my UPS

If that UPS is an APC, don't count on getting much out of them if and when something does happen. Plus they'll make you jump through some pretty ridiculous hoops just to get your few $ in warranty claim. Plus you'll be out the downtime, lost data, etc etc.

I don't close things up for every storm, just what look to be significant ones (or when the sirens go off  )

[ChadTower]

I just have the thing insured via the warranty on my UPS....  If I did all of that mess every time a storm came around I'd never be on my pc... I'd always be plugging/unplugging cables.

Yep.  I have a good UPS and a surge protector on the electrical panel itself.

Everyone with arcade equipment should have a whole house surge protector on their panel.  I paid something like $225 installed.  Imagine one lightning surge taking out your whole gameroom. 

[Howard_Casto]

Good advice.  There isn't any way to stop surges from damaging equipment, but the more breaks you have in place, the safer you will be.  Surge protectors, be it the low-end ones you plug into an outlet, or the ones that are installed at your main breaker box, are your friend and you should use them on anything of any value. 

[ChadTower]

Not to mention all the TVs and computers in the house.  Any electronically controlled appliances.  DVD players, DVRs, etc.

[ark_ader]

If I put the Windows 7x64 machine into suspend too much I get terrible input lag, so it either stays on all night or gets switched off.

The Raspi stays on 24/7 and my ADSL modem doubles as a NAS too so in reality I could have all my desktop PCs (all 7 of them) turned off and just use tablets.

The electricity bill comes I just pay it, regardless, but I am starting to be a bit green and try to reduce my carbon footprint.

I am a big believer of keeping your PCs on standby with XP and 2003 Server, but since Windows 7 and 2012 Server, it is better to just use them as and when.

The cab will be on 24/7. 

[Howard_Casto]

If you want to reduce your carbon footprint turning off devices won't really do it. 

If you use your computer for say... only 20 mins a day it certainly makes sense to turn it off, but it's apparent that most of us live on the things, so it isn't going to make that much difference in the long run. 

Also you've got to understand the concept of where your power comes from.  It comes from a giant plant.  If you only use 20 dollars less electricity it isn't like they shovel less coal in the generator.  They use the same amount at all times.  It only makes a difference if there is enough of a shift to where they can close a whole plant down, or run it at a fraction of capacity.  And as nice a thought as personal rationing is, that isn't going to make a difference unless literally everyone does it, and that just isn't the case. 

The solution is federally mandated restrictions.... light bulbs can only use this much power, heating and ac systems have to be this efficient, power plants have to be hydro-electric, solar or nuclear, ect.... And the republicans fight that sort of legislation every step of the way, so there's nothing we can do.  Just enjoy the ride while we destroy ourselves in the name of greed.   

[ark_ader]

If you want to reduce your carbon footprint turning off devices won't really do it. 

If you use your computer for say... only 20 mins a day it certainly makes sense to turn it off, but it's apparent that most of us live on the things, so it isn't going to make that much difference in the long run. 

Also you've got to understand the concept of where your power comes from.  It comes from a giant plant.  If you only use 20 dollars less electricity it isn't like they shovel less coal in the generator.  They use the same amount at all times.  It only makes a difference if there is enough of a shift to where they can close a whole plant down, or run it at a fraction of capacity.  And as nice a thought as personal rationing is, that isn't going to make a difference unless literally everyone does it, and that just isn't the case. 

The solution is federally mandated restrictions.... light bulbs can only use this much power, heating and ac systems have to be this efficient, power plants have to be hydro-electric, solar or nuclear, ect.... And the republicans fight that sort of legislation every step of the way, so there's nothing we can do.  Just enjoy the ride while we destroy ourselves in the name of greed.   

Agreed if I am at home, but I am based in the UK at te moment, and it does matter if you turn off a PC or two, as the electricity rates are quite high over here plus add the 1.50 with the exchange rate and you have one heck of a big bill in dollars.  When I am at home I have all the machines running all the time and again I just pay the bill when it becomes due, but the bill is much lower...

Eventually I will move all my HDDs to one machine, and retire the rest and just use tablets, but it won't be M$ based but linux.  I am also looking at green alternatives such as Raspi or MK808 headless nodes with solar.  Something like a 5c cloud.

[Howard_Casto]

I've been dabbling with the idea of a green generator but I can't seem to find a cost-effective solution. 

We have this large creek that runs behind the house (and I live at Cabin Creek, imagine that )  and it has a fairly swift current.  But hydro generators seem to be rather costly.  Solar is out, we just don't get enough sun....  Again it's really hard to be green at the personal level unfortunately. 

[ark_ader]

I've been dabbling with the idea of a green generator but I can't seem to find a cost-effective solution. 

We have this large creek that runs behind the house (and I live at Cabin Creek, imagine that )  and it has a fairly swift current.  But hydro generators seem to be rather costly.  Solar is out, we just don't get enough sun....  Again it's really hard to be green at the personal level unfortunately.

I think you could manage something like this Howard.

Heck I bet Le Chuck could make one and morph it into a wave rider arcade game too. 

[Dawgz Rule]

The solution is federally mandated restrictions.... light bulbs can only use this much power, heating and ac systems have to be this efficient, power plants have to be hydro-electric, solar or nuclear, ect.... And the republicans fight that sort of legislation

More govt is definitely not the solution.   The comment about Republicans sounds like something from the Huffington Post.  What Republicans oppose (generally) is unnecessary regulations that ties the hands of business.  Take something as simple as light bulbs.  You can count on the fact that in CA you can't purchase anything but a CFL light bulb.   Unfortunately, CFL's are only really efficient in environments where they are on for a long period of time.  A traditional bulb is otherwise more efficient.  I would imagine most people also just throw CFL's in the trash too. 

Hybrid cars is another falacy.  That prius has a much larger carbon footprint than similar sized gas only cars simply because of the manufacturing process.  The breakeven point from a carbon standpoint is approximately 90,000 miles. 

A couple of years back our dishwasher needed repair service.  While the repair guy was over I mentioned that the thing doesn't seem to try as well as my old dishwasher.  The reason....govt mandated requirements on heating elements. 

Thank you govt!  And no, I am not a Republican.

[ChadTower]

I think you could manage something like this Howard.

The issue is that even when the creek runs through your property the waterway itself often belongs to the town or state.  You can't modify it or put anything substantial in it without the full process of permitting.  And you often cannot restrict access to others if they can get to it without crossing your land (as in coming down the creek in a kayak).

[Samstag]

I just hit the sleep button on my keyboard.  My desktop is my DVR (3 tuner inputs connected to my antenna) so putting it in sleep mode allows it to wake itself up when it's time to record a show, and lets me wake it back up in a couple of seconds.  The power draw in sleep mode is so tiny I never fully power it down.

[MonMotha]

My two cents:

Code: [Select]

14:01:05 up 404 days,  7:10,  3 users,  load average: 0.07, 0.02, 0.00
(In other words, I don't)

[danny_galaga]

I generally don't power mine done. Of course, I work from home, so I'm on it pretty constantly, and the power consumed otherwise just isn't worth the hassle of powering down, from the numbers I ran. Now, if I was at an office all day, things might be a little different.

As far as lightning goes, just powering down won't save you, I know that all too well 

When a severe storm is brewing, I power down, unplug and make sure any wired connections (modems, cable TV, power cords, etc) are disconnected.

Yep, same here. Where I lived, there was a good chance a UPS wouldn't save you since there was a higher probability than almost anywhere that lightning was going to hit in your street, and right on the power lines. You need to be physically disconnected to be sure. This gives you an idea of the numbers:

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2002/12/10/2583008.htm

Hence my habit.

Where I live now is much more 'normal' but I still unplug everything crucial if I am going to be away from home for more than a day or two, just in case. And because it's the most precious thing in the place, my MAME cab is only ever plugged into the wall when I'm using it (",)

[lilshawn]

I shutdown when it's time to upgrade. I bought a new videocard last week, i just haven't bothered to shut down and install it. I suppose if i didn't serve media files off my pc I could shut it down. Perhaps it's time I build a server.