Should Windows 10 Be Shut Down Each Time Used Or Is Sleep OK ?

In days of w98 I read that it was best to shut down PC after every use because trouble going into standby and waking up. In W7 book I read that shut down was not necessary each time for Sleep was more reliable and did not have same problems. Now I read W10 should be shut down each time. What is the current thinking on this? Should W10 be shut down ever time used, or Sleep if going to use again during day, and is there a length of time that it must be shut down even if want to use it?

 

Hey BG! You are going to get a lot of opinions on this topic, so here's mine. I agree with this link! I only shut my PC off when I want to clear the memory.
The answer depends on how you use your computer, and what you need it to do.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/should-you-turn-off-your-computer-at-night/

 

Everyone has their own preferences on that. If I'm going to bed or out for the day then I shutdown. If I'm only going away from my PC for a few hours then I'll let it sleep. It uses very minimal power in sleep mode so letting it just sleep all the time won't cause any issues.

 

A little humor on this topic. I'm constantly checking CHF for new material all day long and until late at night.
I'm old and I have to get up a couple of times a night and I check CHF when I have to get up.
Therefore my PC is seldom turned off. I have a Toshiba lap top starting it's 5th year and I want a new PC.
My theory is after 5 years, it's time for a new rig any way.
PS One reason why I have to get up at night is the two drinks I have to help me sleep.
If you don't maintain your computer, it won't make a lot of difference. It's going to wear out before it's time any way!

 

Here's a example I always use to argue my case. How many times have you turned a light on and you get a bright flash and it burns out.That's a example of a power surge IMHO! No one is going to win this discussion, but it should be a fun thread.

 

We already have a thread discussion on this.

http://computerhelpforums.com/threads/should-you-shut-down-your-computer-or-leave-it-run.39431/

 

I agree shut your PC off.... why put your computer in a coma with standby or sleep mode. But i'll leave my PC on all the time I do admit this. But not recommended.

 

I shut down when I go to work, and when I go to bed. Always have. leaving it on 24/7 can potentially be a fire hazard if you are gone and no one else is there for extended periods of time. Not recommended to leave on 27/7 unless someone is in the presence of the PC.

 

Doesn't Win 10 do a hybrid shutdown like Win 8? If so not much difference between shut down and sleep.

 

The one thing that can only happen with a shutdown is clearing memory and that alone is enough reason to shut down at least daily. I am actually surprised at IceMan's answer which is identical to mine as usually hardware gurus leave them on all the time, but like him I shut pc down when I go to sleep and when I leave the house. PM is fine during the day when you are around.
BG I remember the days of the horror show if Windows 98 and PM and all of what I went through to get PM to work properly but in those days I used to burn through hard drives like crazy as well and since I adopted my current shutdown philosophy I have never lost one. I know I have a WD 500 gb in my main unit that I use for backups that is at least 11 years old and still running fine. Now I also never use anythjing except Western Digital hard drives either.

 

The biggest reason for NOT leaving your PC rig on, you cannot be infected by viruses nor hacked if you rig is off.

Sleep mode, or being logged off, your system is still vulnerable.

Then, no matter what, having your rig 'cook' while you are not actually using it WILL shorten the life expectancy of electronics. Want to maximize your PC rig's life, turn it off when not in use. The exception MAY be if your system is used for business AND there is a reason to have it on (like if you run your own email' server).

 

All good points tecknomage!

 

Well Rich I would not want to leave mine on as I am at work with my system being OC'ed and a GTX 980, and not when I am asleep either. If it was a more conservative system possibly so, but it would have to be very conservative, and I would still hesitate to deviate from my stated shutdown policy. Of course you know I have dialed it all in (The OC) with sleep mode and standby mode enabled, so it should be ok when I an gone and I do leave it on when I go to the store or something like that and allow it to sleep. As you know I do not use the wakeup by USB anymore because that seems to mess with HDMI and the nVidia GPU recovery from sleep with Windows 10 -- so I use the power button. But when I go to bed and when I am at work my units are shut down. It's been that way for 17 years now and it's worked very well for me.

 

Same way here its the way I have done it for 15 years or so, and I only recently began o/c ing memory and cpu. I didn't know about connection between usb wake and hdmi though I do not have that issue on my new 15 Intel pc desktop. I did have an issue with it not resuming from sleep until I flashed the bios and that seemed to fix that.

 

It's all really a personal choice.....

That being said...for me, no matter what the OS is, I always turn my system off at night and during the day when I know I'm going to be away for an extended period I use sleep mode. It's what I like to do and works for me.

 

I think this is one of the rare moments on a forum where we have most in agreement. In my experience generally its the techs with outside electrical experience background who are the ones who say leave it on all the time. Techs like our TonyD...aha wrong again from Tony from old thread on this subject:
"Cindy, I'm surprised you saw that much difference in your electric bill. I'll have to run the calculations.

I shut my computers down if I'm not expecting to use them for a probably an hour. I sometimes shut down and power up 4 or 5 times a day."
Bob made a great point in that thread also that hardware has changed a lot in the last 15 years and that can easily allow for a change in experience as well.

so there you have it!

 

Hi,

I am not going to get into a debate or editorialize. But, to answer to original query... No, it is not necessary to shut Win10 down after use. And, no, there is nothing objectionable about it going to Sleep. Now, as to which I recommend. Side from the fact the varying schools of thought... ideally machines not only can but, should be left on, albeit, asleep but, powered. (1) It is easier on them being left on the being turned on & off frequently (& unnecessarily) & (2) there are things that happen that cannot happen if a machine is not powered... if it is not possible for these things to happen it puts unnecessary onus on the End User to pay attention to stuff & do stuff manually.

Set them to go to sleep & leave them on; doesn't change because it's Windows 10.

Cheers,
Drew

 

The first thing I do is disable sleep and hibernation. Have on when I want to and off when I want to and always off overnight.
The Net is full of instances where computers do not come out of Sleep and Hibernation correctly.
Each to their own. There is no closure on these types of threads.

 

Aint that the truth.....

 

Ironically my PC is not set to Sleep... but, that's cus the OS is on a SSD.... were it a HDD it would be set to Sleep (not hibernate). But, is left powered. 10 doesn't do much when it is left to idle. That's interesting, though... have to admit, 1st hearing of waking up difficulties.

I always laugh when I recall a client few years ago. Someone had told them to shut their puter off @ night while they slept because otherwise hackers would get in it. I asked them what happens while they were out during the day while it was running. They just kinda looked @ each other, thoughtfully lol.

But, yes, hard to say there is an all-the-time right or wrong to this one.

Cheers,
Drew