Better to keep on?

x2xwakegurlx2x · Frontside 180 Joined: 12 Oct 2003 Posts: 270

Someone told me that if you use your computer alot, its better to just leave it on all the time, rather then shutting it down and rebooting all the time. Anyone else hear that or no anything about that? Is it better to leave your computer on for days at a time?

scott a · "a" is for angel Joined: 17 Feb 2004 Posts: 4126

i never turn my school computer off unless im leaving town (when i turn it off it is password protected so nobody can use it). my computer at home in my room is always on and its hardly ever used. i cant remember the last time i turned my home computer off. i think its been on ever since i plugged it in when i got it...

nowadays computers take up almost no energy when they are in "sleep," "standby" or "hibernate" modes. it doesnt harm them to leave them on, and when you move the mouse or hit the keyboard they will wake up and you can just keep working where you left off instead of opening up all of your programs again.

Dave Barousse · Faceplant Joined: 10 Sep 2003 Posts: 5

Mine stay on 24/7. My Linux box hasn't been rebooted in months.

minus_gravity · Pop Shuvit Joined: 17 Mar 2004 Posts: 205 City: Dalton

mine stayes on all the time...because I'm on it all the time, either on my CAD program or the internet. I have always been told that if you use it alot to keep it on to save your hard drive the damage from shuting off and on. Your hard drive can't handle the changes in temperature.

Paul · Posted: Apr 02, 2004 6:28 pm Post subject:

scott a · "a" is for angel Joined: 17 Feb 2004 Posts: 4126

Paul, perhaps things are different in europe than they are in the states.

electricsnow · cassette Joined: 14 Sep 2003 Posts: 10735 City: Jefferton

Paul, I'd say the unplugging the modem bit is good advice. On sunday night I was awakened by the noise of my computer dialing up...by itself. This has happened to us twice...I dont' know what the deal was, but it's freaky. We have spybot and ad-aware and both of those have found a number of things on our computer. One other thing to mention is that our computer is not supposed to automatically connect for updates either, so...can anyone recommend a priest? I think my computer is possessed...

Later

minus_gravity · Pop Shuvit Joined: 17 Mar 2004 Posts: 205 City: Dalton

electricsnow, what internet are you using??...cause I had the samething with my AOL...AOL would start up and sighn online

scott a · "a" is for angel Joined: 17 Feb 2004 Posts: 4126

electricsnow, hmm interesting. are you connected to a network of any kind or do you just have your computer plugged into the internet all by itself?

electricsnow · cassette Joined: 14 Sep 2003 Posts: 10735 City: Jefferton

minus gravity, we don't have aol. We have a local ISP called datawave.

Scott, we have a dial-up connection so we only have a connection when we actually want to go on the internet...or when the computer does it by itself. The phone cord is always plugged into the jack...for awhile there I'd unplug it once I was done. I'm still under the impression that it was caused by spyware or some such deal....which sucks because this never happened with out old computer and we never used ad-aware on that thing, only the anti-virus software. And our new computer is only a month old.

blah blah blah, I installed spybot and that found a few other things that ad-aware didn't find...hopefully that will help. I just don't like the idea that my privacy could be in jeopardy...like if they were able to get my paypal password or something...ugh. Now I change my "special" passwords on a regular basis. later

scott a · "a" is for angel Joined: 17 Feb 2004 Posts: 4126

well since you have a new computer, my best guess is that you have some software (like norton anti-virus corporate edition) that periodically checks for updates online. im not sure how these would work for dial up users like yourself, so that may be something you want to look into since you mentioned you recently got a new computer. there is a good chance that this is where your problem is. i know my norton antivirus goes online in the middle of the nite...if this is the case, there is an option where you can turn the automatic updates off.

electricsnow · cassette Joined: 14 Sep 2003 Posts: 10735 City: Jefferton

We actually have mcafee and it doesn't connect to the internet automatically for updates. The other option was that microsoft was connecting for those updates, but we didn't have that option selected.

As for the information bit, that's totally true. I was trying to confirm someone's phone number, and there's this phone book that has complete information on anyone (for a price of course). Also, the internet was how my mom found out that I had a speeding ticket....DAMN INTERNET!! Ha, that was a few years ago, but she found it on a circut court website...

Anyway, thanks for the help.

Dave Barousse · Faceplant Joined: 10 Sep 2003 Posts: 5

My home network is behind a router with a built in firewall, but I also run this on each Windows machine (see link below). It helps me sleep better at night. My Linux machine is locked down tight.

http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/zap/trial/zap4x_trial.jsp?lid=home_zaptrial

There has to be some type of service/process running on your machine that needs an internet connection from time to time for updates, etc.

electricsnow · cassette Joined: 14 Sep 2003 Posts: 10735 City: Jefferton

hi dave, thanks for the suggestion! I'll have to check it out a little more to see if we should get it...but it looks like a really good thing. Bloody computers...(english accent people)

Paul · Posted: May 03, 2004 4:51 pm Post subject:

electricsnow, here's the link to the free "ZoneAlarm" firewall. It's the basic version:
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp
Don't forget to NOT TURN ON your modem until the firewall is completly loaded and effective (each time you boot your computer).

Dave, I have ZoneAlarm on my PC and it asks me the regular questions like: "Do you want to allow Generic Host Process for Win32 to access the Internet?", etc. But these questions come like 3-4 times in a row. Is that normal or maybe related to a hacker's activities? Also, I did the Microsoft online check for the new "Sasser" worm and it says that my PC is not infected, but my computer still shuts down from time to time for no reason since last week-end.
I know that I sound paranoiac but I had problems with my credit-card on the web lately... Mad

Thanks in advance

Dave Barousse · Faceplant Joined: 10 Sep 2003 Posts: 5

Paul,
Do you also run a virus scan? If not, download one tonight and install it. If you do run one, be sure your definition files are up to date. I use AVG on all of my machines. It's free and has been working well for me.

Is your system counting down before it shuts off or does it just turn off? It could be a heat issue if it is just shutting off with no warning. If it is counting down, it is probably a virus.

http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php

The Generic Host question is really pain in the rear. I finally just granted it access to the net in Zone Alarm after reading about it. Below are two links you can use to fing out more about what it is supposed to be doing.

http://www.computing.net/security/wwwboard/forum/272.html
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q314056

I'm still not sure if it is leaving a hole in my system or not. Some don't seem to be very concerned about it and others think it is so your computer can call home (Microsoft) and check in.

x2xwakegurlx2x · Frontside 180 Joined: 12 Oct 2003 Posts: 270

I have a problem like that too. I leave my AIM online through the night, and sometimes I will wake up, and had been signed off then on again. And I have no idea how. And I get the message that someone has signed on to my screen name from another location alot. And I have changed my passwords multiple times, plus I have one sn, that I dont use (no one knows it either), I just created it for the purpose to test that, and it still does. Its weird.

electricsnow · cassette Joined: 14 Sep 2003 Posts: 10735 City: Jefferton

Paul, if you dont' mind me asking, what credit card problems did you have?

Last year my mom actually had some issues...at one point, someone was trying to order something from nordstrom's with my mom's credit card. And one other time my mom ordered something from eddie bauer or some place like that and the eddie bauer people called our house saying that they were sorry but they had already sent out her order and they couldn't re-route it to one of the carolinas. If I remember correctly, eddie bauer had an incorrect e-mail address for my mom (I dont' know how that happened), so when they sent out her order confirmation, this other person got it and tried to get my mom's order. so lame...anyway, i hope things work out for you.

Paul · Posted: May 04, 2004 1:34 pm Post subject:

electricsnow, someone tried to order something with my credit card. Fortunately, it was a website that I had already ordered from. They sent me an email asking for the expiration date of my card and I told them to cancel the order immediately!

Dave, thanks a lot for your help. Yes, I have an anti-virus on my computer (Norton 2004) and it's up-to-date, and there's no countdown before the shut down. Sometimes it turns off and sometimes it reboots.

That thread about the 'GHP' is really interesting, but now I'm more confused than ever. Great... thanks Laughing

I don't understand why there're always 2 different GHP requests. The second one is always the same (a private IP that the online IP Atlas cannot locate), but the first one is always a different one (for example, today it was 255.255.255.255, located in the Netherlands according to the IP Atlas).
It's driving me nuts. The funny thing is that a firewall is supposed to protect your privacy but most of the time I don't know what to answer when it asks me to allow a program to access the Internet... Smash

Paul · Posted: May 04, 2004 1:41 pm Post subject:

x2xwakegurlx2x, do you have an anti-virus? Make sure it's up to date. Plus, download the free ZoneAlarm firewall.

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