Is it necessary to shut down my computer every time I am done using itMy PERSONAL opinion is no, it is not healthy for the computer. Almost all of my computer experience COMES from the manufacturing and industrial environment. I have worked alot in automation and robotics; what we have found in "our" environment is that you can drastically shorten the life of components like mobo's, cards, etc. because of the constant temperature changes in the physical characteristics of the board. Connections that have regular temperature variances eventually will develop tiny "pits" or "seperations" in the connections and solder receptacles that will allow moisture and any other microscopic airborne media to infiltrate and as a result create problems with the functionality of the components. This is why sometimes in electronic components, you will hear people say..."all I did was remove the connector and plug it back in...and it started working again " It is because you re-established the physical connection that this worked.

My personal computer is on 24/7, the only time I shut it down is when I know there is inclement weather reports close by. I also monitor temperatures quite OFTEN to look out for potential issues. Just remember this, electronics components in anything need to stay cool in order to have a long life; keep them in a well ventilated area, don't cover them up, or sit them on anything that can impede air flow in and around the UNIT. Good computing...................gator Not necessarily...

You could your hibernate or suspend, if you're hardware is able to be configured to do such.This is true; but with most users, it is much easier to simply shut it down, or leave it on. My system is set to hibernate, and I guess I should have mentioned that. If I were not going to use my system for an extended time, I WOULD of course shut it down. The "shortened" life comes from temperature instability, and not the procedure itself. If you are on the computer "often", then I would not shut down; Between work and home office I spend about 12-14 hours a day on the computer.Now I feel like we're doing someone elses homework for them...