pc switched on?

[jigman1]

Hi. My computer takes ages to "warm up" especially when going through the AVG virus check.Would it be safe to leave it switched on and just switch off the monitor.

[Buenchico]

I used to get rather frustrated with the length of time that AVG took with the virus check at boot-up. Then I realised that (as long as AVG has been doing its job anyway), it's completely unnecessary. So I suggest going into AVG's settings and disabling the scan at boot-up.

However, I'm still using Widows ME and AVG no longer supports my antiquated operating system. So I've made the change to using Avast! I find that it does everything far quicker than AVG does. (Lots of other ABers have also switched to Avast!, after reports of problems with AVG8). So perhaps it's time for you to ditch AVG altogether?
http://www.avast.com/

To address your actual question directly though, it's perfectly safe to leave your PC switched. When I worked in the rail industry, our PCs were booted up on the morning of 27 December each year and not turned off until the evening of 24 December the following year. They never came to any harm.

However, to reduce your electricity bill (and to be kind to the environment), you should consider using 'Hibernate' (which uses the least amount of electricity), 'Sleep' or 'Hybrid Sleep' (which are only available in Vista). The differences are explained here:
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US /Help/335c6a5d-0304-4af1-b135-6bf6c124dc111033 .mspx

If you're using XP, the 'Hibernate' option is hidden. To enable it, follow these instructions:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup /learnmore/tips/magyar1.mspx

Chris

[trish432]

AVG doesn`t scan when I boot up, or if it does I haven`t noticed. I went into tools, advanced settings, schedules, and set it to scan and to update at 10pm, when I`m not normally using computer.

[beso]

Statistics show that a computer is more likely to be compromised by hackers if constantly connected to the internet. It is just a matter of opportunity.

However there is no good reason to leave a comuter on 24/7. It really is a waste of power.

AVG is the problem. Turn off the startup check.