Turn Computer Off Or Leave It On

Thanks again to everybody who responded.

After looking at many websites and reading tons of comments I've decided to turn off at major times like going to bed and work and leave it in some kind of pause mode when it's going to be a little while between uses.

I still would like to have a clear, SIMPLE (like Yes/No), definitive answer about hackability in Sleep, Hibernate, and Hybrid Sleep modes. (margrave55, 24/7 is not the same as just a few hours; I'll make a distinction. Thanks.) Can anybody give me such an answer without complicating the issue with considerations that don't apply to me, which is just about everything mentioned previously? Thanks.

@vanp, your questions & distinctions make 100% sense.
--- In my experience many people have asked those questions. I'm not technically knowledgeable on how to explain each situation but there have been some excellent explanations & descriptions posted in your thread and I'm glad you created this thread.

Can People Hack Into Your Computer While It's Sleeping?
Can People Hack Into Your Computer While It's Sleeping? | Techwalla.com
--- One of the statements is "Most importantly, a sleeping computer is not able to maintain an active network connection that is necessary for a hacker to be able to infiltrate your system"

EDIT: You might find this article interesting: it doesn't deal with possible hacking, but it does include information on the effect on your data.
Comparing Sleep, Hibernation, and Hybrid Sleep on Windows
Comparing Sleep, Hibernation, and Hybrid Sleep on Windows - TekRevue

Thanks, MeAndMyComputer.

dalchina had referenced the second article, so I had seen that.

I had not seen the first one; it's certainly along the lines of what I'm looking for. If Sleep is safe, the other two modes are probably safe. It would be nice to get confirmation on all three modes from somebody here who is personally knowledgeable about these things. Thanks again.

joeandmarg0 said:

Switch off anytime.My computer, home built in 2006, has never missed a beat and the motherboard is sound,Gigabyte 965p.The obsession with saving 10 seconds or so on startup is peculiar,what happens to the 'saved' time?

Same here. I've turned off all my home PCs since I started using them in the early 90s. No problems either with my office PCs. I did have two bust XFX PSUs having a faulty +5V standby circuit but Googling suggested a design flaw.

vanp said:

Thanks again to everybody who responded.

After looking at many websites and reading tons of comments I've decided to turn off at major times like going to bed and work and leave it in some kind of pause mode when it's going to be a little while between uses.

I still would like to have a clear, SIMPLE (like Yes/No), definitive answer about hackability in Sleep, Hibernate, and Hybrid Sleep modes. (margrave55, 24/7 is not the same as just a few hours; I'll make a distinction. Thanks.) Can anybody give me such an answer without complicating the issue with considerations that don't apply to me, which is just about everything mentioned previously? Thanks.

You might never get a definitive answer. Note the capability of intelligence services and the example of new CPU vulnerabilities which keep being discovered. A PC can be woken by a Wake on LAN command if enabled. In theory this is only possible from a command sent from your LAN but who knows what exploits are out there.

Hi there

Three considerations here people might have possibly ignored.

1) Cost of power -- laptop etc not very much but IMO always a good idea to save electricity usage where possible -- while most of the planet still relies on Fossil and Nuclear energy fuels one should minimize the necessity for using those -- 1 laptop won't make much difference but several million world wide would.

2) If it's a server or a desktop with several HDD's -- then I'd leave on (but turn monitor off) -- HDD's run better when not stopped / started regularly -- modern HDD's on low friction bearings don't consume prodigious amounts of power once they've started up.

3) laptop - I'd always unplug it -- especially with the Li Ion batteries -- these have been known to catch fire etc - as per some apple / Samsung phones a while back !!. Less chance of that happening if laptop disconnected from mains (and its charger).

Another possible reason you might want to switch off unattended computers --if it's not switched on it can't be hacked !!!

Cheers
jimbo

Hi there

@vgkfan83

60 USD extra electricity bill just for computers -- what are you running there -- 2 large Server Farms for Langley (CIA) or something !!!!

I just don't believe it !!

Computer idling especially laptops typically will use probably less than 10 watts - so assume computer idling over night for 12 hrs will consume 0.12 of a kilowatt hr. Not sure what electricity costs where you are but if I base on typically European prices (we are an exception since we have more power than we can use due to geothermal and hydro abundance so costs here can't be compared with elsewhere !) that would cost you around 0.5 of a US cent per computer !!! overnight running.

Even bigger machines are unlikely to use more than 20 - 25 watts when idling either - especially with screens switched off.

You must have had other things on as well to bump up prices -- if you have a smart meter you should be able to check very easily - not sure if those things exist in USA yet though.

If you are in Arkansas I would imagine air conditioning at certain times of the year might be a significant cost - any machinery left on that causes the air conditioning to stay on longer will also disproportionally effect your electricity bill. You should even without a smart meter get what electricity costs per Kw/hour so easy to calculate what cost would be.

For the more engineering "challenged" members of the forum -- 1 Kw hour is the price charged by electricity companies for using 1 Kilowatt of electricity for 1 Hour which is what your meters will record.

Turning machinery off will use ZERO so I don't see how you can pay more when machines are switched OFF -- if you can work that trick you could make more money than the owner of AMAZON in about 5 minutes flat !!!! as people will pay LESS as they use more !!.

Cheers
jimbo