Does avoiding shutdown and reboot between sessions help extend the life of your hard disk?

Question

I know that it doesn't save me any power consumption (although much of the difference there may be mitigated by using Sleep mode), but this question is not on energy or the environment - so if you wear a green hat, pleas go harass somebody elsewhere.

I have come to understand (so I think, and wish to verify on) that frequent re-booting helps destroy hard drives, which is why I've been in the habit of leaving mine running. Besides the idea that it may help keep my hard disk running longer into the future, there's the convenience of not having to re-open your apps and files, plus you can allow your Windows system to run Defrag automatically while you aren't there. You won't miss any full virus scans and updates either. The latter two reasons would be enough to set my mind on not shutting down my system after each session, but not if I actually stand to lose my hard disk within the next year because of this - therefore, I wish to verify the facts on the impact of a continuously-running system vs a system which is re-booted at least twice a day on the longevity of most hard drives. Can anybody say for sure?

Answer 1

hi dave, this is the age-old question. it was pretty-much agreed that stopping and starting a computer will increase stress on components; especially mechanical one like hard drives.

i have known guys to run their rigs for years without switching them off. so if you are not concerned about electricity costs; leave it running mate. better in a nice clean environment of course, and check your temperatures now and then for stability....

Answer 2

Desktop computers are and always have been built to be on 24/7.



BUT, u will need to reboot to apply any system settings updates etc.



when shutting down a pc the OS spins down ur HDD too so that its safe to turn off ur PC for ur HDD

so i dont see how rebooting can cause any damage.



I've got hard drives more than 7/8yrs old still running sweet ( when i use them) ((due to their size i dont use them often))



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Answer 3

Although there is no proof ( of that i am aware of). I see your point of view about the ease of access. however i would think that the longer your device is running and switched on the more prone it would be to over heating. Not so much the big things like hard drive and rom drives, but chips and processor would maybe subject to this overheating therefore damage your computer. Maybe you could check the CPU Temperature in the BIOS.

Answer 4

Every computer i have ever owned, i always leave on unless i know im going to be gone for more then a day. I have never had a hard drive fail on me, ever.



I still have a computer with a hard drive from early 2006 still running strong that really has never been shut off.