For years we have heard the pros and cons regarding turning off your computer each night. Those in favor of the practice usually point to energy savings as their main reason for doing so. The trend of "going green" is no longer new but it's hard to turn a cold shoulder to saving money, especially in this economy.
Those who are concerned with security point out that leaving your computer connected to the Internet unattended could make you vulnerable to attacks, however unlikely it may be. If you live in a small space like a college dorm room or keep your PC in your bedroom, leaving it powered on at all times will certainly add more heat to your surroundings - not very desirable during summer months.
Sure, you could set your PC up to go into hibernation mode to conserve energy and eliminate heat output, but several people complain that their computer behaves differently after coming out of hibernation and a full reboot is needed to remedy the situation.
Those who are against shutting down daily point to a long-running belief that booting and rebooting is hard on components and should be avoided as often as possible. Others run software in the background 24/7 like Bit Torrent clients of Folding @ Home. Some users simply want to gauge how stable their system is by measuring how long it can keep running before a reboot is necessary.
So, what's your take on the subject? Do you typically shut down your system(s) at night or leave everything running for days, weeks or even months at a time? We'd love to hear your reasons in the comments below!
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