Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?

Alrighty whos guilty? I leave mines on all the time, but it gets slow and I have to do a reboot because train sim will take hours to load, and other applications will get slow. Ever since I got that virus a while back, things got slow. I dunno where the problem is coming from. Maybe norton makes it run slow. I have NAV pro installed. But it has gotten slow to the point where I cant stand it, I had to order another one, and this time aint none of this "custom built by someone" cpu, I ordered it from Dell. The bastard that built mines is no where to be found and the price I paid for it is about the same price as the system that im getting and it is prolly twice as fast as this one. But ye who are guilty raise your hand, just a general survey. But I was told they were built to stay on.

The best railroad there ever was

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RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, pvoxland, Jan-28-04, 11:19 AM, (1) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, buzzbenz, Jan-28-04, 12:29 PM, (2) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, ssw_96, Jan-28-04, 04:57 PM, (3) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, JonN, Jan-28-04, 06:36 PM, (4) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, buzzbenz, Jan-28-04, 06:54 PM, (5) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, smmille1, Jan-28-04, 11:08 PM, (11) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, JonN, Jan-28-04, 11:12 PM, (12) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, smmille1, Jan-29-04, 01:39 PM, (15) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, JonN, Jan-29-04, 11:18 PM, (22) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, buzzbenz, Jan-30-04, 00:54 AM, (26) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, buzzbenz, Jan-28-04, 06:57 PM, (6) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, Gixxer86g, Jan-28-04, 08:47 PM, (7) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, Mr Fuzzums, Jan-28-04, 08:54 PM, (8) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, SeanK97, Jan-28-04, 09:32 PM, (9) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, stryder47, Jan-28-04, 10:04 PM, (10) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, ssw_96, Jan-29-04, 07:32 AM, (13) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, stryder47, Jan-30-04, 00:48 AM, (24) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, buzzbenz, Jan-30-04, 00:59 AM, (27) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, buzzbenz, Jan-29-04, 09:56 AM, (14) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, CSX_CW60AC_GregMarck, Jan-29-04, 03:18 PM, (16) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, ssw_96, Jan-29-04, 05:46 PM, (17) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, CSX_CW60AC_GregMarck, Jan-29-04, 06:40 PM, (19) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, ssw_96, Jan-29-04, 10:34 PM, (21) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, stryder47, Jan-30-04, 01:01 AM, (28) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, CSX_CW60AC_GregMarck, Jan-30-04, 10:54 AM, (30) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, smmille1, Jan-30-04, 02:30 PM, (31) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, buzzbenz, Jan-29-04, 06:37 PM, (18) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, BNSF4723, Jan-29-04, 07:50 PM, (20) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, taracer, Jan-29-04, 11:38 PM, (23) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, stryder47, Jan-30-04, 01:06 AM, (29) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, tsayyote, Jan-30-04, 00:51 AM, (25) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, heffed, Jan-30-04, 07:32 PM, (32) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, Vince, Jan-30-04, 08:12 PM, (33) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, Ty_train11, Jan-30-04, 10:04 PM, (34) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, roandju, Feb-10-04, 11:29 AM, (35) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, squeaky_d, Feb-11-04, 11:13 PM, (36) RE: Who Leaves Their CPU On All The Time?, kenya, Feb-14-04, 01:05 AM, (37)

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LAST EDITED ON Jan-28-04 AT 11:21 AM (EST)

Another slowness cause can be 'spyware' that has been installed on your system from internet downloads that offer to "speed up your hard drive", "update your system clock" and so on. Bad news stuff. To detect and get rid of that, I now instll on all the systems I support "Spybot". Available from: http://www.safer-networking.org/. It is essential to also download the latest updates to the program, using the option on the program. The downloads may take some time to start, it's a very popular program. Spyware is a lot like viruses, new versions keep appearing, and programs to find and remove them need updating to detect whatever may have been downloaded. When we were kids, Our moms said: "Don't take candy from a stranger". The internet is no different. Think for a moment: "Why would I be offerred some free program to install on my computer?" The answer that someone somewhere wants something from you ... information or business or worse. This applies to programs that are offerred by a "pop-up" that appears while a person is just browsing the web, or programs that are distributed out of file-sharing networks such as Kazaa. This might not be the cause of your system's apparent slowness, but it is frequently what is behind other people's complaints.----- To answer your question about leaving a computer constantly online, my advice remains to turn a system off if it's not going to be used for several hours (overnight, while at work, or while at home away from work). Many people have different opinions. Some are concerned about the damaging effect of turning power on and off with the computer electronics. . Perhaps I am showing my old school ideas of not wasting energy, or exposing a left-on system to damage during power storms or voltage fluctuations.. Finally, there is the class of attacks from hackers who are probing around the internet to find systems to install their evil-doing programs. If you are not 'behind a firewall' then your system left constantly on may be showing itself to the rest of the world as a possible target. Once you turn off the power, well, it just isn't there anymore.---PS: I don't know why italics showed up in my plain text message above!

--- Phil Voxland

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> But it has gotten slow to the point where I cant stand it, I had to
> order another one, and this time aint none of this "custom built by
> someone" cpu,That statement is why i have gotten very picky who i build machines for nowadays. People get a bunch of software, viruses, spyware, etc that brings their machine to a crawl, then want to blame the person that built it...> the price I paid for it is about the same price as the system that
> im getting and it is prolly twice as fast as this one.Probably because hardware always falls in price. My uncle bought a 486 for $4000 when they FIRST came out - you can get a top-of-the-line system for HALF that these days! That's how the computer industry works....For the record - BOTH of the computers i have now i built myself. I have also built several for friends and neighbors. NOT ONE of them has had a problem that was related to the hardware. I did have a friend try to HINT that once, but a quick run of SpyBot revealed the TRUE cause (more spyware than legit programs).Lack of support is about the only i can see NOT to go with a PC built by someone else. And YES I KNOW - there are those that think they can build a PC that really can't... But the problems you were describing REALLY sound like a software issue - THAT is not the problem of the person who built the system, and i highly doubt Dell would disagree... Also, what OS do you have? Some (like Win98 and ME) have to be rebooted from time to time because they suck at memory management (MUCH less of a problem on Win2000 and WinXP).Anyway - in answer to your question:
No, i don't leave my PCs on all the time at home. I do at work though, and never have a problem. The only reason i don't at home is because i have LOUD fans in the computers, and i have difficulty falling asleep when they are on... (For the record - i DON'T put loud fans in the machines i build for others - i do for mine because i like them COLD )------ BUZZ

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Well I didnt mean to offend you by saying that. I was just kinda hot this morning when I posted that. I had just come off of a reboot
and was kinda hot under the collar. And I should have used my head when I said I can get one better at the same price now. I know that prices drop over time, but as said before I typed before I thought.
My OS is WinXp Pro.

The best railroad there ever was

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LAST EDITED ON Jan-28-04 AT 06:36 PM (EST)

>Maybe norton makes it run slow.I don't use Norton. It nuked my system registry once too often...
I use ZoneAlarm firewall and AVG antivirus for security.Now, concerning whether I leave my CPU on, the answer is no. My CPU (Pentium III@1GHz) is nearly 3 years old now, and I have not noticed any difference in performance (FPS counters prove that). Well, actually I have replaced the display adapter, hard drive, and CD-RW, as well as doubled my RAM, so performance is generally better than when I bought it.BTW, I have a question for the computer gurus out there: I'm thinking of replacing my CPU sometime this year. How hard would it be to install? would a new CPU (say, a P4) simply fit the current CPU mount on the mainboard, or is replacing a CPU a bit more complicated than that?Jonathan Nikiforovs.
Milepost 180, CP Belleville Sub.Repainter for Yonder Locomotive Works.

"A crictic is a man who creates nothing and thereby feels qualified to judge the work of creative men. There is logic in this; he is unbiased - he hates all creative people equally." - Lazarus Long

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LAST EDITED ON Jan-28-04 AT 07:00 PM (EST)

No, you'll have to replace the motherboard as well, and quite possibly even the RAM (depends on what you have now...). Probably an extra $150 (US currency) for the two, depending on what you get.If you do that and do not re-format your HD, make SURE you un-install all the current motherboard drivers just before you turn it off to swap the board and CPU.EDIT - forgot the "how difficult" part!
Replacing the motherboard requires you to basically unhook and unplug most everything in your PC. If you have never done it before, it can be a dauting task. But if you have a friend that can build PCs, he/she can help out.------ BUZZ

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Don't forget the new power supply. That P4 + mobo is likely to want more power (and more connectors) than what you've probably got in there right now.

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LAST EDITED ON Jan-28-04 AT 11:18 PM (EST)

>EDIT - forgot the "how difficult" part!
>Replacing the motherboard requires you to basically unhook
>and unplug most everything in your PC. If you have never
>done it before, it can be a dauting task. But if you have a
>friend that can build PCs, he/she can help out. Don't worry. Like I mentioned earlier, I have removed/installed computer components before. I even dissasemble my computer to clean it once a year.>Don't forget the new power supply. That P4 + mobo is likely
>to want more power (and more connectors) than what you've
>probably got in there right now. How much power are we talking about? I currently have a 250-watt power supply. What should be enough, 300? 350? I know some of the latest P4s can suck up to 80-watts...Now my last question is, what kind of RAM will not work with a new CPU? I have 2x 128MB units. They date back to 2002, so I would really like to know if they will/won't work ahead of time. Thanks...
Jonathan Nikiforovs.
Milepost 180, CP Belleville Sub.Repainter for Yonder Locomotive Works.

"A crictic is a man who creates nothing and thereby feels qualified to judge the work of creative men. There is logic in this; he is unbiased - he hates all creative people equally." - Lazarus Long

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I don't know what current power requirements are, but 250W wasn't quite enough when I put together my Althon XP1700+ box a couple years ago, and I'd assume it's only gone up from there.

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>If you do that and do not re-format your HD, make SURE you
>un-install all the current motherboard drivers just before you turn
>it off to swap the board and CPU.I don't recall having to install any drivers for the mainboard when I installed Windows on a clean HD...Jonathan Nikiforovs.
Milepost 180, CP Belleville Sub.Repainter for Yonder Locomotive Works.

"A crictic is a man who creates nothing and thereby feels qualified to judge the work of creative men. There is logic in this; he is unbiased - he hates all creative people equally." - Lazarus Long

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Windows may have already known about the motherboard and had the proper drivers for it. Or, it may have loaded some generic drivers. At the very least, you'll guarantee that you have the latest driver for your board that way ------ BUZZ

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> Well I didnt mean to offend you by saying that. I was just kinda
> hot this morning when I posted that.No prob. I probably sounded a little "harsher" myself than i meant to as well....------ BUZZ

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My system's on 24-7.

"Hold tight,feel the drivers bite,hear the whistle moan.Engine rockin' to the left and right,vibratin' in my bones.Once the locomotive steals your soul,you got a Casey Jones!"---Ian"Lemmy"Kilmister

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LAST EDITED ON Jan-28-04 AT 08:56 PM (EST)

Leave both mine on 24/7/365 (okay, mine and Mrs. Fuzzums')...the only time I turn them off is if it's stormy outside. I do let the monitors go into power save when they are idle, but that's it. The main reason I leave them on is to maximize my uptime for a distributed computing project I participate in (Folding@Home). I have heard the argument for leaving them on and it does make some sense to me...it basically goes that more wear and tear is done on the components in the power-on, power-off cycle than is done by leaving them running once powered on. Especially your monitor--all that power-on, power-off wears more on a CRT than leaving it on and letting it go to power-save mode when idle. Speaking of power-save, I think the EnergyStar standard defines power-saving as something like no more than 3% of peak power-consumption when idling (that may be wrong but I know its awful low), so if you leave your PC on but set the intervals for sleep/standby/hibernate modes then the power consumption at idle is not much more than a lightbulb. I think with Win95/98/ME you should at least reboot every once in a while to keep your system resources from spiraling downward, but with XP Home/Pro there's no reason not to leave it on unless you're worried about power consumption.Just for the record...Athlon64 3200+/512MB DDR400/UDMA-100 HDD here and MSTS still takes forever to load, so it ain't just you. Mr. F

There's no 'I' in 'Team'...there's no 'U' either...

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Mr. F, you are absolutely right on the mark about periodic rebooting of Win95/98/ME to restore memory resources, if you leave it on 24/7, a reboot every other day keeps the blue screen of death away! As for the more current O.S's, they use memory much more efficiently and do not require a reboot to restore. I also am one who leaves the machine on 24/7x365 except during storms. I have never had an issue with burning up a PC, or any of the hardware for that matter. In fact, I have never had to replace any of my hardware from having burned it up or worn it out, only when upgrading to something faster/better/newer. Ditto on the moniter, let it go to "sleep" rather than on/off when needed.I run a Athlon XP 1.8ghz with 512 meg on a Win2K system and have almost never incurred a lockup that a logoff/logon could not repair. The only time that has happened is after I installed the MS Activ-Syc for my Dell Axim X5, and an update cured that. I have my system set to idle off the hard-disk after 10 minutes, and the moniter after 20 just 'cuz it takes longer for it to recover than the PC. I should add that I am on my personal system checking this forum at least every morning and evening, and having to wait for a boot would take way too much of my valuable time. (he says with a snicker)SeanK97Oh yeah, my MSTS takes 65 seconds to arise from the dead.

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I leave mine on 24/7 but do reboot from time to time just out of habit more than from necessity. I run winxp on a compaq 2.4ghz Pentium 4 with 768mb of memory, two 80gig hd's, no soundcard!! (I run a Philips Gameport CD boombox type player with a USB PC Link that runs all of my sound and sounds great. You should hear the trains rumble along when I have that baby cranked!) The only thing I really need for this machine is a good video card. Right now using the internal 64mb video card which works ok but framerates can really suck from time to time. Just can't afford what I want right now, but I will have a decent one before the end of the summer. Am glad I waited too as from what I am hearing now, PCI video cards are working better than their counterparts, which surprised me when I read it in PC Magazine.
I don't shut mine off for thunderstorms either. If the power goes out it won't hurt these new machines. Now of course if a bolt happened to come into the line directly then I would have a problem but the odds on that happening here aren't that great.
As for Norton, get rid of it. That was the biggest contributor to my past computer problems than any other single piece of hardware or software I had on this machine. Slowed it down tremendously from time to time and screwed up other programs. Haven't had that problem since getting Trent Micro Internet Security. Plus never have to worry about all of these stupid viruses as it has caught every one so far and updates four or five times a day.Anyway, as a former computer salesman, repairman, etc. It hurts the computer more to turn it off and on than to leave it on. And I don't even power mine down. I run winamp at night to sleep by so it is definitely on 24/7, including my flat screen monitor. No problems. These machines these days are built to take it. It is usually software that causes problems on today's machines. And you can take that to the bank. And non defragging your machine. I do mine daily and run a registry fixer and defragger daily. Oh, and I keep the side cover off on mine to make sure it gets plenty of air and stays cooler. Just make sure you dust it out on a regular basis though if you do that.RangerWestern Maryland Railroad
Gone, but not forgotten!

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Well on this cpu I leave it on, but it has a AMD XP 2100+ and the fan is not just the quietest fan, AMD users you know what I mean. And also when I leave it off overnight and then turn it on in the morning the fan makes a loud noise when it fires up like it is hung or something. It is loud and the only way to stop it iis to tilt the front end up, but once you set it back down it makes the noise again, but after a minute or two it plays out and quits making the noise. I cant figure out what it is. Are P4's any quieter than AMD's because I sure hope they are. Also I am getting DSL Just cant make it on 56K anymore. It also came with a free upgrade to a 19 in CRT monitor. Well it was either that or a 15 in flat screen, so I just went with the bigger size. Well thank you all for your advice regarding this matter.

The best railroad there ever was

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I had an AMD before this one and didn't notice any difference in the fan sounds. You might want to check that out. Put a fine drop of oil on it and it may straighten it out. Either that or it has perhaps loosened up or widened out where it seats. In either case you would want to change it. Actually mine is a P4 and can be noisy but that is because you need more fans and I have the cover off to keep it as cool as possible.
You will appreciate the faster speeds believe me, it is like night and day. I would never go back to 56k modem no matter the cost of this cable I have. Actually it is better than cable, it is fiber optic and is one of only a couple in the country using it. Faster than a T1.
Well, you got a free upgrade for the 19 inch monitor, but I gave mine away to my daughter and use a 15inch flat screen because the resolution is so much better and clearer. When I play a DVD movie on this thing it is incredible. Much better than what I was getting with a CRT monitor.
Anyway, hope that helps. I would check out that fan though if I were you. Doesn't sound good to me. And they do have a tendency to go bad after a while. RangerWestern Maryland Railroad
Gone, but not forgotten!

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> had an AMD before this one and didn't notice any difference in the
> fan sounds.It all depends on what you get. The AMD AthlonXP 2700+ i have was a retail box version that included the fan. It isn't the quietest, but i have other fans in that machine that drown it out anyway.My AthlonXP 1700+ machine's fan used to be so quiet i'd barely know it was on. Then i stuck a 7000 RPM fan on the CPU instead and ended that silence! So, i think it all depends on what you get and when you get it...------ BUZZ

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> I have heard the argument for leaving them on and it does make some
> sense to me...it basically goes that more wear and tear is done on
> the components in the power-on, power-off cycle than is done by
> leaving them running once powered on. Especially your monitor--Well, i've heard all sorts of things when it comes to "leaving on vs. leaving off". Heard that leaving them on all the time risks something not coming back up when you finally do have to turn it off. Heard turning them on and off wears parts out faster...I ignore them equally My monitor at home is 4 years old, and my monitor at work is probably the same. Home gets turned off, work doesn't. Both still work just fine! Same with the HDs - i have one in my home PC that is three years old, and i have NO idea how old the one at work is (at least 3 yrs though). Both work just fine also, no bad sectors or nothin'!I think it's more of a preference thing. Like i said before though - if you have LOUD fans, then there IS a reason for turning them off at night, especially if one is in your bedroom ------ BUZZ

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why hasn't this been locked?Greg
HighV0lt6ge - AIM/AOL
gregoryis411@hotmail.com

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dont like it dont read it.

The best railroad there ever was

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Please let you remind you of the current fourm rules.http://www.train-sim.com/dcforum/DCForumID1/6228.htmlAnd more specifically:http://www.train-sim.com/dcforum/DCForumID1/7496.html
This applies to everyone, not just to the little kids.Greg
HighV0lt6ge - AIM/AOL
gregoryis411@hotmail.com

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Well you're the only one who's bitchin about it. Im surprised you havent went crying to the mods about ths post. Now it will prolly get locked. I was just trying to get some helpful info, is that a crime.And as far as leaving it on, I hope that the Pentium is quieter, but I have gotten accustomed to the noise of this AMD that I have.

The best railroad there ever was

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Hey Greg, if this thread were violating anything or not relative to something important then it would have been locked by now. The use of the computer for running the game is important to some people.
What I cannot understand is why you feel that it needs to be locked? Is it that important to you? If so then just don't read it. The moderators are watching the forums very closely and at this point haven't felt the necessity to lock it. There has been no fighting or arguing or anything nastily said in this thread so why the concern, or are you one of the few who feel the necessity to go through every thread trying to find a reason to have it shut down?
I really don't see the need for it here and I would like a better reason than, it is not train related. No, it is computer related. Computer problems can lead to not being able to run the game or have an effect upon the game, so thus, I think it deserves to stay based upon that criteria. If you feel otherwise then by all means email or PM the moderator. But, I think your time would be better spent, reading and participating rather than complaining. Just my opinion. I really fail to see the harm in this thread. In fact it is enlightening for some of us. RangerWestern Maryland Railroad
Gone, but not forgotten!

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I understand that this forum isn't harming anyone, and yes it's a good post. I've learned some good information from this thread. - I'm not disagreeing that with that. And this isn't a personal attack against ssw_96 either, although some may think that. I just feel since this is a TRAIN forum, about real Trains it should be kept that way. Maybe the Train Simulator forum would be better suited, because it specifically involves your computer. Last time I checked you didn’t need to know whether or not people leave their computer on all the time for real trains.
All I'm saying is - Rules are Rules, it doesn’t matter who you are. Maybe Brian would like to adjust the rules of the General forum to allow the discussion of computer.
Greg
HighV0lt6ge - AIM/AOL
gregoryis411@hotmail.com

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If you do not think the thread is acceptable, use the Alert link. Then you can be sure the mods are aware of it. Other than that, I'd recommend against publicly posting to it trying to stir up trouble.

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> why hasn't this been locked?Well, it's not a particulary harmful thread...
And survival of the PC IS kind of essential to train-simming ------ BUZZ

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I turn mine off every night, mostly because I don't like to have any ambient noise at all when I sleep (its in my room). I've never left it on more than 2 days in a row but I suppose it would be alright if I did.~The only way to ship~

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I agree. This thread may even help people get a faster running MSTS. And it is in the General section. You can get a better running sim with a little computer understanding. I see no reason why it should be locked.I know on my computer, I turn it off everytime I know I won't be using it in an eight hour time frame. Otherwise I keep it powered up. I turn it off only to save money.With my system, I have to reboot before I run MSTS to keep system resources high for a better frame rate. Like others have said, if you leave the system on all the time you might pick up a few FPS by rebooting.

Modeling CSX, Metro North(ex CR, PC, NYC) Hudson Line.
Mainline 100% complete.

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I agree with your first paragraph and why this is relevant to the game in general..and this is, after all, the general section. I do sometimes reboot to get better framerates but that is because my internal video card isn't that great and seems to do better after a soft boot.RangerWestern Maryland Railroad
Gone, but not forgotten!

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Keep mine on all the time cuz i'm Folding@Home. It doesn't just sit there anymore, the cpu is put to good use now. Occasionaly reboots here and there but that's it.

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I leave mine on. I render a lot of 3D graphics that run all night. When I'm not rendering, I run distributed computing projects. So my system is crunching all night long.As long as you can keep it cool and your system is on a UPS, you're in good shape. WinXP doesn't have slowdown issues from extended on times.The leave it on and turn it off debate has valid issues on both sides. Basically, solid state electronics are happier left on, (provided they're cool enough) but moving parts such as HDs and system fans like to be turned off. However, with sealed bearings and such, HDs and fans can run very happily for years of constant operation with no problems. You will most likely replace them for newer hardware before they fail on you.Leaving your system on also helps keep dust build up down. Dust has a harder time settling when your system fans are on. Of course, build up on your fans is worse...Usually people mention the power spikes when powering up a system as the main reason for leaving your PC on. Another issue that many people don't think of is stress on the PC boards. When operating, heat causes expansion of the boards. When you turn your system off, the components cool, and contract. This "flexing" of the PC boards can eventually cause cold solder joints, or broken traces.If your system is running XP, is kept cool, and has stable power, the only reason I can see for turning it off is energy conservation.-Jeff

Union Pacific is my drug.

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LAST EDITED ON Jan-30-04 AT 08:25 PM (EST)

On all the time? Yes, except during a thunderstorm. Why? Three reasons.
Running SETI search program, a search program for anti-cancer drugs and extended hard drive life. When a hard drive is running (spinning) the heads do not touch the disk surfaces.
When the hard drives are powered off the heads move to the parking area and DO contact the disk surface while the disk spins down. And every time the hard drive is powered on the heads drag on the surface until the disk comes up to speed.
After all the good on/off cycles are used up, the drive fails.
You could argue the hard drive bearings will fail before a head crash and you would be correct. However a bad spindle bearing makes itself known long before it fails completly by the sound it makes allowing data recovery. A head failure makes itself known by loss of data and usually cannot be recovered.How close does a hard drive head 'fly' above the disk surface? Answer: really close. Here is an example I used to use when teaching classes in hard drive technology;
Expand the head to the size of a Boeing 747. Got the picture? Now fly the 747 at an altitude of 3 inches!

Regards,
Vince Cockeram
NEC Track Team
Author of the NECv4 Route

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Nope, if I leave mine on, the RAM gets low and it hardly responds, much more play msts.

Ty
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good train sites: espee.railfan.net/spgp38-2 www.drydentidbits.com/montana/guide/ http://southern.railfan.net/schnabel/cars/cebx800/cebx800.html

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Turn-on--Turn-off. Personally I turn mine off, learn hard lesson with my first Pc(on 24-7). I use roadrunner and it is always on and it slowed the computer almost to a stop, and every day I would have to run spybot and adware and defrag the machine. And to keep it running half way right.
Now with the new PC (6 months old). Off at night, runs like new.
I use Norton Internet and Norton antivirus 2004, cut the speed some, I can live with that.
I have now run spybot, adware and diskeeper,once a week. And most of the time it shows a clean machine. Except the defrag of course.
So my vote goes to turning off.Trainsim runs fast and great

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LAST EDITED ON Feb-11-04 AT 11:17 PM (EST)

i have a computer i put together myself
Pentium III 650mhz
512mb pc100 dimms
20gb hard drive and a 80gb hard drive
ati radeon 9200 64mb video
creative soundblaster live x-gamer sound card
shall i go on??And msts runs ok i have to knock the settings down a little bit but overall the pc runs great.Mcafee virusscan loaded
windows 98se (second edition)I also have another computer from DELL i got from a roommatePentium 4 1.8ghz
256mb ram
55gb hard drive
ATI Radeon 9600 pro 128mb video
onboard sound
Windows XP Home
shall i go on??msts runs great with the settings set all the way up
then again i have mcafee virusscan loaded.and i turn them off every night!!!! but i have another PCceleron 333mhz gateway PC and i leave it on 24/7 but my hard drive has started to whine!!! So i gambled and lost. OH wellAbout the power supply for a Pentium 4 maybe your best bet, just in case, would be about a 400 watt!!Me preferably i don't like norton. The first computer i had was a pentium 90 that i bought at a computer show in town. It was ok, then it just froze and slowed down. I put norton on it with that crashgaurd it kinda saved the PC. But then again back then i didn't know as much about PC's as i know now!! That was back in about 1997 maybe!!!

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Who takes there computer apart and cleans out the dirt and dust? Like my CPU fan is blocked so this weekend I am getting a can of compressed air and going to blow the dirt out of all the boards. I do not mean to bring this post up but this is good stuff to know so your computer last a long time and you do not end up with having to get a new CPU and starting all over with MSTS.

All ways remembering BigBoy 4023 and her run throuth Green River Wyoming on train 359 a 600 car mixed freight.

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