Is It Safe To Turn Off My Computer

"Is it safe to turn off my computer, or should I leave it running?"

I get this question quite often from those who wonder if it is okay if they should leave their computer constantly running, or if it is okay to turn off/on their computer.

Now a days you are able to do both. It doesn't hurt the computer to leave it running, or to turn it off when you are done using it. But leaving it running all the time can result it a higher power bill.

If you have a computer (running Windows XP Service Pack 2+, Vista or Windows 7) it wouldn't hurt to completely power them down. Doing this installs any critical updates for your computer that may have been missed when other important updates were installed. If you leave your computer running, doing this once a week can be very helpful.

Also powering down every once in a while clears any excess programs running in the back ground.

Many who ask this question are worried about the computers' hardware and if it is causing wear and tear. In the 80's to early 90's, this may have been a factor in the computers used back then, but hardware design and performance have come a long way since then to resist damage that would once had worn out your computer. It is safe to shut down the computer, but like before, let the computer fully shut itself down. This way, you should not run into problems as if you didn't fully shut or safely let the computer shut down.