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Is it bad to not turn off or reboot your laptop?

F

FearoftheNight

Diamond Member
Hey guys just wanted to know if it was important to turn off your computer or reboot once in a while. My Macbook Pro currently has uptime of 13 days and 3 hours although I do leave it on standby on some nights. . I do this with both my laptop and my desktop. This is this bad for either one?
 
Don't know about Macbooks, but generally speaking, notebooks are not designed or built for 24/7 operation. No problem with desktops.
 
Shouldn't hurt it. My sister keeps her old Inspiron on for months with nothing but close-lid suspend. (I believe it's set up for S1 sleep)

You might want to look into S3 sleep for both. No point in leaving a desktop idling at 100W when it can use 3W and still be near instantaneously on. My main rig also goes months without rebooting -- sleep is its "off".
 
I set my mother's Vista laptop to sleep when the lid is closed, because it saves issues dealing with all those confusing buttons :^D It only reboots when I update it, and is required. Same with my Ubuntu netbook. The only time I reboot it is for kernel updates. I wouldn't let it run full power if you aren't using it. As CorkyG pointed out, it's a confined space, and heat can buildup. Also, a failed part is a greater PITA to fix than it is on a desktop. If you really do want to leave it running(not the worst idea in the world), I'd at least use a good cooling pad to keep the temps down.
 
I leave both my desktop, and my laptop, running 24/7. No problems thus far to report in about a year of owning my laptop. Desktop has been running 24/7 for like three years, although I had to replace the PSU at one point, as the fan started to go bad.
 
this is what has me worried about owning a laptop.

most days i have my laptop hooked up to a keyboard and mouse and monitor and use it like a desktop, but i like the ability of when i want to take it into bed or over on the couch with me i can take it.
i just worry about it being ran so hard and running 24/7 literally. it never goes to sleep because it is usually encoding video overnight.
 
^ At least try to ensure it is kept cool if you leave it on heavy-duty tasks for a long period, like overnight.
 
betasub said:
^ At least try to ensure it is kept cool if you leave it on heavy-duty tasks for a long period, like overnight.
Click to expand...

its always on a laptop cooler, now my girlfriend refuses to use the laptop cooler i gave her and she sets it on the bed and shit where the fan ports are getting smothered...
 
I think my longest uptime on my laptop was 78 days or something. Then an update happened so I had to reboot. I see no problems with it. If you are running a modern OS then it will take care of itself with regards to sleep and whatnot.

Rebooting is such a hassle.
 
I usually close the lids on my notebooks, and it goes into standby. I only reboot when I have to, but with updates being pushed as it is, that's usually at least one a week.
 
First thing I would say is you need to use the batteries once in a while to keep them functional.

The second thing I would say is that it might be benneficial to turn the computer off and have it do a reboot about once a week or so.

You should also have automatically updating. This may require a reboot once in a while.

You should not have the same exact image on the screen all the time. Closing the lid may be helpful and help the screen to last longer.
 
I usually close the lit and let it sit. The battery is pretty low when I turn it back on again and needs to be plugged in but other than that no problems.

I like to cycle the battery though so I don't leave it plugged in 24/7, I wouldn't recommend that.
 
hulkhelton said:
i always take my battery out when its not in use.
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lol given how the apple laptop charger cords are designed...that would be a really bad idea

yea i think my battery is shot i've been using my laptop plugged in for about 3 years now..istat shows battery as: health 35% 317 cycles.....i assume this is normal given the general usage pattern?
 
FearoftheNight said:
lol given how the apple laptop charger cords are designed...that would be a really bad idea

yea i think my battery is shot i've been using my laptop plugged in for about 3 years now..istat shows battery as: health 35% 317 cycles.....i assume this is normal given the general usage pattern?
Click to expand...

After 300 cycles the battery should be at least at 80% capacity. So yea, you might want to get a new battery. What are the temperatures? Where is the laptop sitting?
 
TheStu said:
After 300 cycles the battery should be at least at 80% capacity. So yea, you might want to get a new battery. What are the temperatures? Where is the laptop sitting?
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In this case, the 3 years is more important. Lithium ion batteries naturally lose capacity over time, whether they're being used or not. 35% is about what I would expect from a 3 year old battery.
 
mfenn said:
In this case, the 3 years is more important. Lithium ion batteries naturally lose capacity over time, whether they're being used or not. 35% is about what I would expect from a 3 year old battery.
Click to expand...

Some are better, some are worse. I have a 6 year old battery with I think, 500 cycles (maybe it is 400, it is in my closet) that still holds about a 70% charge compared to new.

VirtualLarry said:
Your battery tells you how many charge cycles it has? Interesting. Mine doesn't say anything like that.
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It is in the System Profiler on OS X. There might be a way to check that information on Windows, but I don't know how.
 
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