Sniper_Kyle 0 Posted August 16, 2004 Ok I have been wondering this ever since I got my first computer...do computers start to slow down if you leave them on too long (ie. 48 hrs)??? I hate not knowing and im going crazy not knowing!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bordoy 0 Posted August 16, 2004 you mean in the same context of an athlete running round in circles for 1500m? Then it might happen to a pc but i dnt think it would. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sniper_Kyle 0 Posted August 16, 2004 Damn....guess no free movies for me Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
denoir 0 Posted August 16, 2004 Ok I have been wondering this ever since I got my first computer...do computers start to slow down if you leave them on too long (ie. 48 hrs)??? It's not the computer per se, but the operating system, if it's not well coded. If it allows memory leaks from software used, over time, less of your memory will be free - which in turn can result in slowdowns. In practice however, modern operating systems (like Windows XP) handle it pretty well. Plus they cache commonly used programs - so restarting your computer can actually slow it down. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sniper_Kyle 0 Posted August 16, 2004 So....i dont wanna keep my computer on too long...but i also dont wanna restart it? YIKES! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kerosene 0 Posted August 16, 2004 on my old P.C, which was a 1.4ghz Flashpoint was espically bad at slowing down the whole computer, i had to reset it after playing usually, which helped in my case. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kegetys 2 Posted August 16, 2004 No, unless its badly built and it overheats :P Windows however still seems to manage to screw itself up over time and things just start to crawl, on my experience after around a few weeks to a month of normal use... A simple logoff/logon seems to help to it though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sniper_Kyle 0 Posted August 16, 2004 All hail the kegetys So....now I know that log off/on fixes it a bit Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Supah 0 Posted August 16, 2004 All hail the kegetys  So....now I know that log off/on fixes it a bit I leave my windows machines on, at work, at home, at my parents house. They survive and dont grow very slow. If you use win98se you might want to get a memory manager. But if you are just downloading a big file then it will most likely be days rather then months ... you are safe enough Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theavonlady 2 Posted August 17, 2004 I don't find Windows getting sluggish just by leaving the PC on for a long time. It gets sluggish over time as Windows is updated, the registry expands and programs load more data over time (like email clients, with accumulating posts). The August 17 issue of PC Magazine has an article, "Degunking Your PC", on page 60, that's relevant to this. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SpeedyDonkey 0 Posted August 17, 2004 Why have the computer on 24/7? I see no point unless it's a sever. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bordoy 0 Posted August 17, 2004 Why have the computer on 24/7? I see no point unless it's a sever. might be downloading a really large file and he got slow connnection. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SpeedyDonkey 0 Posted August 17, 2004 Why have the computer on 24/7? I see no point unless it's a sever. might be downloading a really large file and he got slow connnection. On a regular basis? The electricity + phone bill would be higher then purchasing a faster connection ;o) No seriously. I think he's asking it theoretically. Some people seem to keep their computers on continuously without having any particular reason. (Other then not wanting to boot up etc) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sasyboy 0 Posted August 17, 2004 I turn my off because I don't want my fans jam up as they cost > Å2 to replace. Some people call me tight but I say hey, "I have to leave the freazer on all day!". Some people! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Placebo 29 Posted August 17, 2004 I never realised that minimising apps to the taskbar resets the memory they're using, two that I use regularly Firefox and NewsBinPro tend to reach very high levels of ram usage, minmising them helps free up the ram Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sniper_Kyle 0 Posted August 17, 2004 Thx for your replies everyone...i appreciate it. Quote[/b] ]Why have the computer on 24/7? I see no point unless it's a sever. might be downloading a really large file and he got slow connnection. On a regular basis? The electricity + phone bill would be higher then purchasing a faster connection ;o) No seriously. I think he's asking it theoretically. Some people seem to keep their computers on continuously without having any particular reason. (Other then not wanting to boot up etc) I have a pretty fast cable connection so the only thing I could update to is broadband which isnt in my area yet . WHY DID I HAVE TO MOVE TO SUCH A DESOLATE PLACE IN MAINE!!! Quote[/b] ]I don't find Windows getting sluggish just by leaving the PC on for a long time.It gets sluggish over time as Windows is updated, the registry expands and programs load more data over time (like email clients, with accumulating posts). The August 17 issue of PC Magazine has an article, "Degunking Your PC", on page 60, that's relevant to this. Thx avon, I'll look into getting that issue. So...another thing I did was look at the site tweakxp.com and did all the tweaks they suggested to get better gaming performance and it really did work! I have zero lag on nogova with about 20 groups on the Y2K3 mod Me like, me like a lot Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mister Frag 0 Posted August 18, 2004 I never realised that minimising apps to the taskbar resets the memory they're using, two that I use regularly Firefox and NewsBinPro tend to reach very high levels of ram usage, minmising them helps free up the ram :) That would be a behavior that is particular to those applications, it doesn't work with all Windows applications. Minimizing an application window really doesn't do much else besides sending a bunch of messages to the application telling it that it is about to be minimized etc., changing the state of the window using ShowWindow(SW_MINIMIZE), and sending a couple more update messages. What you might be seeing is a temporary reduction of the amount of physical memory used by the program. Windows knows that when a program is minimized, you aren't likely to use it again immediately, nor are any of the GDI objects allocated on its behalf needed anymore. It can therefore free up physical memory for other uses by swapping to virtual memory. If you bring up Task Manager, go to the "Processes" tab, select "Select Columns" from the "View" menu and add the "Virtual Memory Size" value to the display, I'm sure you'll find that the overall amount of memory allocated to Firefox and NewsBinPro doesn't decrease at all when these applications are minimized. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Placebo 29 Posted August 18, 2004 What you might be seeing is a temporary reduction of the amount of physical memory used by the program. Windows knows that when a program is minimized, you aren't likely to use it again immediately, nor are any of the GDI objects allocated on its behalf needed anymore. It can therefore free up physical memory for other uses by swapping to virtual memory.If you bring up Task Manager, go to the "Processes" tab, select "Select Columns" from the "View" menu and add the "Virtual Memory Size" value to the display, I'm sure you'll find that the overall amount of memory allocated to Firefox and NewsBinPro doesn't decrease at all when these applications are minimized. Yes it affects only physical RAM, but as that is something much more limited than VM I find it usefully effective, those two apps that I mentioned tend to sneak up to well over 100mb of RAM usage, NBPro I've seen go up to 300mb+ at home. I think it's definitely more than a temporary "placebo" effect, eg Firefox was using 69mb ram, I minimised it, it went down to 4mb, started using it and it's settled at 30mb or so for the last 10 mins, obviously opening new tabs will increase that but it seems at least with ver 0.9 it doesn't free up RAM when closing tabs. A quick minimise and back and the RAM is freed Just noticed Outlook is another one that it works with Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GoOB 0 Posted August 18, 2004 Why have the computer on 24/7? I see no point unless it's a sever. I agree, I like to actually try to turn of electrical appliances that I don't use Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
friendlyfire 0 Posted August 18, 2004 I think you'll find the leaving the machine on thing is fairly historic, when machine components were relatively more expensive to electricity it was more economical to leave the machine on as stop/start loading (mechanical and electrical) is more damaging - have you ever noticed how most hardware fails occur at boot-up (apart from cooling related ones). All of the old workstation suppliers would always tell their clients this. Now I guess no one cares, parts are cheap Although I always leave my work machines on.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
der bastler 0 Posted August 18, 2004 Well, besides large downloads on slow connections or extreme calculations (e.g. compiling something) your computer will have nothing to do. Let a computer idle over night or when you're at work? What a waste of energy... Ok, I must admit that my good ol' P166 was running last night due to an emerge process. Compiling certain programs on such a slow machine with only 64MB RAM can last long (:crazy:). The P90 router was at work, too (fetching the program archives). Speaking of computers, here's my current desktop... http://www.ofp-zone.de/bastler/rl_photo/enterprise_desktop_august.jpg SCNR Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gandalf the white 0 Posted August 18, 2004 i notice a slowdown, mostly after gaming so i can live with it, and if it gets too bad... i just view some animé and go to bed... nice to know that log off / on trick Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
redface 1 Posted August 18, 2004 sometimes I grow tired of my computer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pathy 0 Posted August 18, 2004 This PC is always tired. I share the feeling with it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
