Can I keep the my laptop on all night? What should I do: put it on standby or on hibernation-and what's the

Question

difference. I have just been keeping it on, to the internet-firefox, yahoo as my homepage and it's set to go to screensaver after 15 minutes.
What's the best way, or should I just shut it off. I have been told, also, that it's better to have it on than turning it on and off several, 3 times a day. Thanx

Answer 1

I turn it off for security and maintenance reasons.

Answer 2

Hibernation shuts your machine down, but saves the running state so that all running processes will resume when you wake your machine up again.

Standby is just a way of conserving power by shutting off the monitor and the hard-disk. The machine is still running.

I have had laptops since 1998 (I got my fourth one a few months ago). I never use Hibernation, and I have permanently switched off Standby mode. The machine is either on and I am using it, or it is shutdown completely, and on its way to (or from) work with me. In addition, it frequently stays on all night, with a blank screen-saver.

I guess if you use a robust operating system, like Un*x, then Hibernation may work. However, MS-Windows (and Windows Applications) tend to start behaving erratically if you use Hibernation all the time.

One other note... all my laptops are still happy and healthy, and have not suffered from being turned on and off on a daily basis. In my line of work, a laptop (or PC) is ancient before it reaches its third birthday. I still use all my laptops, but only the newest is used regularly.

Answer 3

hibernate.

Standby keeps the power running through the RAM and everything, but turns off the hard drive. Hibernate stores the data that would be reloaded into the RAM on startup, and turns off ALL of the computer. You should have it on most of the time, but when you're gone for a long time you should put it in hibernation.

Shut it down when it either slows down, or for any other reason you might want to. It doesn't hurt it, but it's not very good when it's done repeatedly.

Answer 4

With desktop and tower machines, I'd advise you to keep it running. Think of it like this: have you ever been reading a good book and have the lighbulb just blow out on you? Probably not. It always seems to blow when you're turning the light on or off. If you think the filiments inside a lightbulb are thin and fragil, you need to see some of the wiring inside a computer. Turning it off and on will create a higher possibility of problems. However, laptops generate a tremendous amount of heat as you know (havent figured out why they named it a laptop cause you sure cant keep it in your lap, it's too hot.) That amount of constant heat will quickly takes it's toll on the machine and even more so, will slow your machine down temendously. The hotter the machine is, the slower it will run. Hope this helps. Larry RadioShack 01-9590

Answer 5

Two schools of thought so you pick on whether to turn clear off or just on standby. I like standby. Light bulbs go out when you turn them on as a rule. I don't know if they can be compared to LCDs and computers but I like standby as a compromise.

Answer 6

depends on your usage - if you're always using it, sure - just choose the most appropriate power settings to your situation. the whole thing about 'its better to keep it on rather than turning it on and off repeatedly was more about draw from a full power supply on a desktop computer - not so much a laptop. no, the thing to worry about is that you're efficiently using your laptop battery. If all you ever do is keep it plugged in rather than drawing out the battery and recharging it regularly - you're wasting the life of your battery.

Answer 7

Let the system go on standby, but turn the monitor off if you will be away for a couple of hours.

Answer 8

I many times depart my computing gadget on in one day. i flow into administration Panel/ability innovations and set it up so the tensecontinual is going to sleep with a view to no longer placed on out the tensecontinual. it's going to come again on quickly if it desires to.

Answer 9

yes you can leave it on but just close the top of the laptop and have it plugged in to the wall plug for power.closing the top of the laptop like you are putting it up is fine it will like go to sleep until you open it again.

Answer 10

At night, I shut mine off. I hear that is when someone is more apt to hijack you. Or spam you. During the day I keep mine on standby. It uses more electricty to shut it off and on.