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2752
Should I turn off my staff PC at the end of the working day?


It's best not to turn off your staff PC. You should simply log out.

Staff Windows computers automatically go into a low-powered sleep state after 10 minutes if there is no user logged in. This gives the same environmental benefits as turning off the computer but also enables it to wake up automatically at around 5.00am to check for updates. It will then install any patches or software updates while networks are quiet, restarting if it needs to.

If your computer is turned off, it won't be able to install updates automatically and may instead prompt you to update it during the day which is often inconvenient.

Occasionally you may also see a restart required message appear from a green icon in the taskbar tray (bottom right of the screen). You can restart at a convenient moment if you like, or as long as you log out at the end of the day, a restart will be performed automatically overnight.

Notification on windows desktop showing a restart is required

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This is question number 2752, which appears in the following categories:

    Created by David Guest on 25 September 2015 and last updated by David Guest on 25 September 2015