Re: What if I never upgrade?
I have the same habit. For me it comes from running audio equipment where it is in fact better to leave it on. Electrolytics keep formed and stay healthy and that would be the same with computers except with modern switching supplies the caps are all small so I don't really think that matters. The real importance with the audio stuff (I'm showing my age) is the tubes don't like thermal stress. That, of course, has never been a computer problem since computers looked like anything most of us would recognize. Regarding thermal stress in LSIs, that sounds like BS to me. I don't think there is anything wrong with turning a computer on and off many times a day. However, like askrieger, I still don't.
My DOS machine doesn't care what you do to it software wise. You can turn the power off any time, and it only takes a few seconds to come back up to the state it was at. Linux machines not so. My personal Linux box is logged into other machines and after a normal 40 second boot up, it takes me many minutes to put it back together. I really dislike rebooting it and leave it up as long as I can. Even after updates it could take a few weeks before they will take effect because of that. Perhaps there is a solution to speeding up a Linux reboot and setup, but I've never spent a lot of time looking for one. The DOS machine boots and runs fast however, but that is why I run it. The idea is to have a machine where everything is as instant as paper and pencil. It is made specifically for recording and organizing my thoughts and if I had to wait, and then click on things and stuff like that, then it's raison d'être would be gone.
Regarding a UPS, I had one plugged in for a while, although just to keep it charged because I don't really need it. Around where I sit, there are literally piles of electronics and a lot of it is on. Last year I started noticing a high pitched squeal which became really annoying. I thought it was from a computer hard drive or fan although it was a peculiar high pitched sound which was really hard to pinpoint. So I went around banging everything to give something a jog and get it to shut up or identify itself. No go. Like an auto mechanic I then went around with a stethoscope to try to find the source. No go. After a lot of head scratching I then started to turn everything off - one by one. Until every single thing was off. The squeak was still there!!! I then went outside to see if there was some electrical device mounted anywhere. Nothing. Finally, while I was crawling around on my hands and knees trying to find the hidden bug.... there was the UPS. The battery had gone south and it was trying to tell me that it was low. Of course unplugging it didn't help because it was still low. No switch for that purpose. Finally I just put it outside and it squeaked for a week until it finally died. I hate those things.
I have the same habit. For me it comes from running audio equipment where it is in fact better to leave it on. Electrolytics keep formed and stay healthy and that would be the same with computers except with modern switching supplies the caps are all small so I don't really think that matters. The real importance with the audio stuff (I'm showing my age) is the tubes don't like thermal stress. That, of course, has never been a computer problem since computers looked like anything most of us would recognize. Regarding thermal stress in LSIs, that sounds like BS to me. I don't think there is anything wrong with turning a computer on and off many times a day. However, like askrieger, I still don't.
My DOS machine doesn't care what you do to it software wise. You can turn the power off any time, and it only takes a few seconds to come back up to the state it was at. Linux machines not so. My personal Linux box is logged into other machines and after a normal 40 second boot up, it takes me many minutes to put it back together. I really dislike rebooting it and leave it up as long as I can. Even after updates it could take a few weeks before they will take effect because of that. Perhaps there is a solution to speeding up a Linux reboot and setup, but I've never spent a lot of time looking for one. The DOS machine boots and runs fast however, but that is why I run it. The idea is to have a machine where everything is as instant as paper and pencil. It is made specifically for recording and organizing my thoughts and if I had to wait, and then click on things and stuff like that, then it's raison d'être would be gone.
Regarding a UPS, I had one plugged in for a while, although just to keep it charged because I don't really need it. Around where I sit, there are literally piles of electronics and a lot of it is on. Last year I started noticing a high pitched squeal which became really annoying. I thought it was from a computer hard drive or fan although it was a peculiar high pitched sound which was really hard to pinpoint. So I went around banging everything to give something a jog and get it to shut up or identify itself. No go. Like an auto mechanic I then went around with a stethoscope to try to find the source. No go. After a lot of head scratching I then started to turn everything off - one by one. Until every single thing was off. The squeak was still there!!! I then went outside to see if there was some electrical device mounted anywhere. Nothing. Finally, while I was crawling around on my hands and knees trying to find the hidden bug.... there was the UPS. The battery had gone south and it was trying to tell me that it was low. Of course unplugging it didn't help because it was still low. No switch for that purpose. Finally I just put it outside and it squeaked for a week until it finally died. I hate those things.
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