Uptime

Uptime is a measure of the time a machine, typically a computer, has been working and available. Uptime is the opposite of downtime.

It is often used as a measure of computer operating system reliability or stability, in that this time represents the time a computer can be left unattended without crashing, or needing to be rebooted for administrative or maintenance purposes.

Conversely, long uptime may indicate negligence, because some critical updates can require reboots on some platforms.

In 2005, Novell reported a server with a 6-year uptime. Although that might sound unusual, that is actually common when servers are maintained under an industrial context and host critical applications such as banking systems.

Netcraft maintains the uptime records for many thousands of web hosting computers.

A server running Novell NetWare has been reported to have been shut down after 16 years of uptime due to a failing hard disk.

Users of Windows XP Professional, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista systems can type systeminfo at the Command Prompt to display all system information, including the System Up Time.

Note: Windows Vista Business 64-bit and Windows 7 do not return a "System Up Time" but "System Boot Time" instead. Also note that the exact text and date format is dependent of the language and locale Windows is running.

Note: Windows 7's "System Boot Time" is not a reliable indicator of boot time. It does not take into account the time spent in sleep or hibernation mode. Hence, the boot time drifts forward every time the computer is left in sleep or hibernate mode.

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Wikipedia