When is your computer monitor turned off?

It's really a complicated issue, and it's based on various factors.

Before you plug in your monitor for the first time, it is likely to have less static electricity.

As you become more familiar with the computer parts, you will learn how to adjust its power management setting.

Click Start, Settings, Control Panel, Power Management in Windows 95 through Windows 2000, or located in Start, Control Panel, Power Management in Windows XP and later.

Each version of Windows has different settings. In general, there is a setting for the monitor and for the hard drive.

We will deal with the monitor setting.

You can set it for a very brief time, up until several hours, or you may never want it to shut down at all.

The power settings really do not turn off the monitor. This is clear because you don't have to turn on the monitor. Just move the mouse or press a key to turn it on again. It may take a few moments to change from its sleep state until it gradually shows the full picture.

Sometimes there's another way to see that the monitor is not on. The power light on the front of the monitor may change color. It shows one when it is resting, and another when when it is using its full power.

You can also set up a screen saver. The screen receives all of its power, but the screen may be black.

Interestingly, if you set the screen saver to blank, it looks like it's off. This can be misleading. It may arguably use a bit less electricity because no electrons are being shot at the front of the screen.

You may think that the monitor is not drawing electricity when its on/off switch is powered down. However, it still draws a small amount of electricity, in addition to the enormous amount of electricity that it stores. That is why the back of your monitor says that you shouldn't remove the cover.

The thin film transistor (TFT) monitor is an exception. TFT monitors use much less electricity. It is converted into DC using a special adaptor, and it does not have a constant stream of electricity going into it when the monitor is turned off.

Because the monitor that's turned off is still connected to the power line, it could be affected by a sudden surge of electricity or a spike, such as lightning.

For this reason, some people turn off their monitor (and computer) during a lightning storm, then unplug the system, including the monitor.

This way no electricity goes in and out, and the monitor cannot be burned out damaged by a lightning strike.

You may think that a lightning strike is rare, but every year several computers are probably damaged in your area by a strike of lightning.