7 Reasons Why You Should Shut Down Your Computer Every Night - MakeUseOf

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There are two types of people: those who shut down their computers frequently and the others who once powered their PCs on and never looked back.

Well, if you fall in the first category, you're making yourself available for multiple rewards. And if you're among the latter ones, well, read on, you might learn something new today.

So, let's find out the seven reasons why you should shut down your computer every night.

1. You Bought a New Computer or Laptop

The number one reason why turning off your computer or laptop every night is beneficial is that it's brand new. Surprised? Your new machine is still in its warranty period, making it the perfect time to find any faulty hardware.

During the life testing of computers, various computer manufacturers found that the failure rate of PCs is higher when they're still new, but it decreases gradually and becomes constant. However, it starts to increase again as the computer begins to age. They described it through a bathtub graph.

Bathtub graph depicting PC's failure rate vs Time — Image Credit: McSuch/Wikimedia

The graph shows that your computer performs the best in its teenage years (the period following the time when your device is brand new).

You should know that shutting down and restarting your computer puts stress on it, which helps you determine any faulty hardware while it's still in the warranty period.

2. You Want To Increase Your Device's Lifespan (Battery, Heat)

Your laptop's battery life shortens after 300 charge cycles. When you shut down your laptop, no battery is draining, and it helps you delay reaching that charge cycle number.

Besides that, when your computer stays on, it heats up, even if the fan is running, causing wear on your hardware. And we all know, even if you don't opt to replace your computer, the hardware isn't cheap.

So, shutting down your computer and laptop can help you increase your device's lifespan for a few months to years, depending on how you operate.

3. You Want To Enhance Your Device's Performance

If you're habitual of leaving your PC on for days or even weeks, you might have noticed it slowing down. Well, it can be due to several reasons, like random programs hogging memory or some fragmented files taking up extra processing power.

Moreover, it can also be due to the crash of your graphic card drivers, printer drivers, monitor drivers, or other drivers.

If you shut down or reboot your computer, it can stop the programs running in the background and fix the crashes while rebooting the drivers properly, helping you enhance your device's performance.

Furthermore, if you shut your computer down every night, you won't miss vital updates and upgrades, another thing that can cause performance issues.

4. You Want To Protect Your Device From Power Surges

Power surges are inevitable and beyond our control. Plus, they can damage your computer seriously, which will not only cost you money but the data that was unsaved or wasn't backed up on the cloud.

No doubt, you can use surge protectors. They'll protect your PC from small surges like the ones caused by power grip switching and against most lightning and storms (the only true way to protect against power surges is by disconnecting every device from its power outlet). Of course, if any such thing occurs in the middle of the night, it makes the PC you left on and plugged in vulnerable.

5. You Want To Save Money

Another reason to shut down your computer daily is money. A desktop consumes 200Wh on average for regular eight-hour usage, causing an annual consumption of about 600kWh, costing you around $75 annually. For a laptop, the electricity consumption is around 300kWh per year, costing around $35 annually. Of course, these are rough values, and your experience is likely to vary.

Depending on how many computer devices you require for your work, your electricity cost gradually increases when you leave them on for 24 hours.

Besides that, leaving your computer on can also cause damage to its parts. So the repair cost will also add up to the sum. Nevertheless, if you continue operating the way you do right now, the repair cost may go in vain because of the decreased lifespan of your device.

6. You Want To Protect Your Privacy

Another reason for turning off your computer is privacy. Shutting down your device can help protect important data as it prevents cyberattacks. In addition, if it's not turned on, your computer cannot be broken into.

This way, you can save any sensitive information you may have on your device, be that your own or that of a client or otherwise.

7. You Want To Improve Your Productivity

Apart from the technical benefits of shutting your computer down, here's another reason why you should shut down your computer every night: your productivity.

Yes, turning off your PC can help you increase your productivity, as you have to close all the opened tabs, programs, or projects you're currently working on. So, when you turn on your desktop the next day, it's all clear. No apps lurking from last week, no browser tab chaos, no Slack messages, or baggage lingering. It helps you give a fresh start.

Plus, when your computer remains on, you may feel the urge to check a few things every now and then, even if you're on a break from work. So practically, shutting down your computer, at least on weekends if not every night, helps you keep your work-life balance.

Schedule the Shutdown

If you don't feel like shutting down your computer manually every night. Just schedule it. Here are the steps for you to ease the process.

Image Gallery (7 Images)

Input Task Scheduler in the Start menu search bar and select the Best match.
In the right pane, select Create Task.
In the General section, enter the name of your task and select Run Whether User Loggin or Not.
Go to the Triggers tab, hit New, and schedule your task from here. You can also add an expiry date to the task.
Open the Action tab and click New. Select Start a program from the Action drop-down menu, and type Shutdown in the program/script. Click OK.
In the Conditions tab, select the conditions when you want to run the task.
Go to the Setting tab, select the following: 1. Allow the task to run on demand, 2. If the task fails, restart every [select a period], 3. Stop the task if it takes longer than [select a period].
Click OK.

And with that, you have scheduled your shut down process. Now, you don't need to worry if you forget to turn your PC off every night. Your computer will do it automatically.

Shut Down Your Computer Every Night

Powering your computer off once a day can increase its longevity and help you fresh start the next day. You can make it simpler by scheduling the process. Just follow the given steps, and it's done!