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Ethernet port being used while PC is turned off? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by prousername@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

50 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Greetings! So recently, i spent a few hours coding software. After i was done and i shut off my pc, i noticed both of the ethernet lights were on and blinking. Does this mean that Microsoft is sending data to their servers before the PC fully shuts off? I am scared that this might be the thing it does. How can i get rid of this issue? I have no idea if it's related to Windows or the PC itself.

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[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Maybe but probably not. Its just frames coming in from the rest of the network. The device on the other end doesn't know the computer is off.

Alternatively if the card still has power it might be just in the state Windows left it in. I could imagine it would be good to not have to reinitialize the card all the time.

Why are you concerned about telemetry on shutdown? That wouldn't make any sense as it sends your data and checks the system status in the background while you use your computer. Also it is not great practice to totally shutdown at night as that's the time when update happen. It also could theoretically wear out hardware but chances are that's not a problem on newer machines

[–] ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Also it is not great practice to totally shutdown at night as that's the time when update happen.

updates can be installed when it's turned on, though, and it well consume much less power.

It also could theoretically wear out hardware but chances are that's not a problem on newer machines

what do you mean? I don't understand.
if you mean the HDDs spinning down and up, then

if it only happens at shutdown, it shouldn't wear them out, additionally as I know HDDs (consumer models at least) don't like endless spinning either
windows probably shuts it down regularly when it's not in use. this is a setting in the power profile
as I know, frequent spindowns only increase wear out if it happens very often, like every 10 seconds and such because of the drive's garbage internal power saving setting. that's why I always keep it at least 30 minutes or more

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I've never seen hardware die because of repeated shutdowns. Also most people aren't running HDDs these days as flash storage is cheap and plentiful.

For updates you need to be turned on for them to install. That's why shutting it down isn't good practice. Just set a maintenance window and put the computer to sleep.

[–] ftbd@feddit.org 1 points 2 months ago

or just install and then shut down?

[–] ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org 1 points 2 months ago

I've never seen hardware die because of repeated shutdowns

then why do you recommend to keep the computer on for a longer life?

but in the case of hard drives, this is a real thing, just not at that scale of shutdowns. if you don't find sources on this let me know and I'll show some.

For updates you need to be turned on for them to install. That's why shutting it down isn't good practice. Just set a maintenance window and put the computer to sleep.

of course, the installation will get prepared while the computer in on. it will have plenty of time being turned on.
but most updates, including a lot of security updates only apply when restarting the updated software, like shutting down the operating system.