Archie, You can Leave it on 24-7. You can uninstall your scanner and then reinstall, the scanner, not the software, and it may work better. If you leave it on 24/7 I would suggest buying a battery backup with shutdown software to auto shutdown when your not at home. Plus, with the storms we've had lately, it's not a bad idea 24/7 or not. Windows 98 does have a problem with leaving it on though. It runs a lot of programs and drags resources down, so restarting it every now and again is suggested. Windows ME seems to handle long up times better. Email me if you need more info.