Hey Derek, go easy on the guy - he is just trying to help. Somewhere in my murky brain I remember now reading that hard drives last a long time just spinning and spinning, that, as you say, the "startup" from "off" is a surge that is more harmful than if just left on. I have been in computer clean rooms that are sealed with dropped floors full of wires going everywhere and air conditioned stabilzed air (kind of cool in temperature) and rows of servers etc.....and everything is just "ON".....just ON all the time, never turned off. As I have possibly said before, my Radius 21 dual page monitor started flickering vertically about 2 months ago. When turning on the computer, after about 5 minutes the flicker started...it is vertical and the screen is going up and down rapidly and there are 4 interations of hte screen in the vertical flicker. It usually took about 10 minutes of that and the flicker would go away. Now it is much worse......the flicker starts immediately after the boot up and it takes over an hour before it stabilizes. However once it stabilizes it doesn't happen anymore, only if I shut down the computer and restart it after a long delay. Restarting the computer does not start the flicker. Shutting down and restarting from total off if done immediately doesn't cause the flicker to come back. Only a longer shut down, say 5 mins or more. SO - and based on what you guys have said...I am just leaving my Mac on all the time. I have backup Macs for parts and do hard drive backups 3 times a day so I can keep my olds Macs running. I use them to do legal work and other word process and SSheets etc. System 7.6 cause I have so much data and old programs. Can do ANY internet. I use my PC for internet. I can rebot the computer in system 8.1 and that gives me SOME web site capability but awful slow, but absolutely no website ability on system 7.6 Wish I knew what has caused the monitor to start the flicker. I have 2 more Radius monitors a 21" and a 19" so at some point I'll switch to another. Thank you for your help and suggestions. Bigclaim In a message dated 9/16/2011 8:05:22 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, [email protected] writes:
On Sep 16, 2011, at 3:09 AM, QuoVadis wrote: > Yes, it's harmfull to a computer to leave it running constantly, > though this is purely a mechanical issue: a harddisk drive has a > number of revolutions (of the disk) before it starts to fail. No need > to worry though: the actual number could be in the millions, if not > billions. This is about as incorrect as it can get. There is no magical number of revolutions before a drive will fail! The mechanical forces (and wear) exerted on the drive bearings during spin-up greatly exceed those seen in normal operation. In terms of hours of operation, you will almost certainly get a longer operating life out of a drive which is running 24x7 than one which is put in sleep several times (or even once) a day. When the first 1 GB drives were introduced, this was one of of their requirements... Keep them running! I have never seen a server drive fail while running 24x7 (even after more than a decade of operation) where systems which are run in the manner you describe often exhibit issues after only a few years (3-5). While this may be partly due to drive construction, it is also due to the stresses placed on the drive during startup. Even the electronics will perform worse under the conditions you recommend. Most electrical faliures occur during the inrush current which occurs during startup, not during steady state operation. The only true negative to 24x7 operation is the power consumption cost. Derek -- ----- You received this message because you are a member of the Vintage Macs group. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/vintagemacs.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To leave this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/vintage-macs Support for older Macs: http://lowendmac.com/services/ -- ----- You received this message because you are a member of the Vintage Macs group. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/vintagemacs.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To leave this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/vintage-macs Support for older Macs: http://lowendmac.com/services/
