Is it better to turn off my laptop of just leave it on standby?

acehimself · 06-11-2006, 09:35 AM

Ok so often times I turn on my laptop and use it for a little bit in the morning then I go to work for the day and I come back at night and use it some more. Under these circumstances, would you say that it's better for me to turn it off when I'm done using it in the morning completely or to just put it on standby, close the screen and leave it like that all day?

thanks.

**TheMatt** · 06-11-2006, 10:50 AM

I just leave my laptop durring the day, and when I go to sleep at night, I put it on standby. Its probably not a good idea to be shuting down and booting up daily, plus it takes a lot longer than waking up the computer.

acehimself · 06-11-2006, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMatt

I just leave my laptop durring the day, and when I go to sleep at night, I put it on standby. Its probably not a good idea to be shuting down and booting up daily, plus it takes a lot longer than waking up the computer.

really? You mean leaving it on standby for long times doens't carry and risk of overheating?

saralvr247 · 06-11-2006, 04:21 PM

As long as it isn't on a soft surface, such as a pillow, carpet, etc, it shouldn't overheat. If you are worried, just run over to the local Wal-Mart and pick up a cooling pad.

Cooling Pads

**Terrister** · 06-11-2006, 06:26 PM

In standby, most laptops draw so little power, overheating should not be a problem.
I always leave mine in standby.

**Doby** · 06-11-2006, 09:11 PM

I have read were closing the screen is not always a good idea if you can help it because it traps heat, its best to leave it open and manual go to standby, even when shuting down its best to leave it open for 10 minutes to cool

**Fox** · 06-11-2006, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMatt

I just leave my laptop durring the day, and when I go to sleep at night, I put it on standby. Its probably not a good idea to be shuting down and booting up daily, plus it takes a lot longer than waking up the computer.

Shutting down and restarting a computer doesn't hurt it in any way.

If I had a laptop that I actually used, I would definitely shut it down every night and restart it when I next need it, if not for the power I'd save (probably a few dozen watt-hours a night) then for the security of not having it attended for hours on end, both from a physical and internet standpoint. Actually in terms of not being good for a computer, between leaving a computer on all the time and turning it off every night I'd have to say leaving it on all the time would probably be a bad idea.

**laboye** · 06-19-2006, 09:35 PM

Standby is fine. When a computer is in standby, it halts the hard drive, downs the processor (and it's fan) and only draws enough power to keep the memory going. The computer will NOT get hot at all. Closing a computer while on will generally have no adverse effects as it does not emmit lots of heat from the keyboard. Shutting down and booting up, if anything would just shorten your hard drive's life by a couple days (they should last for 10 years, if you take care of them). Standby and Hibernate modes do not power on devices, and ergo do not generate heat.

It is safe to leave your computer on standby for extended periods of time. If you are running on a battery, the battery power will likely drain and die within a couple of days. Use hibernate if you plan to not use it for that long. Both modes resume right where you left off, but hibernate saves whatever is in memory to the hard drive in a 'hibernation file', then completely shut's down the computer, using no power whatsoever.

**Fox** · 06-20-2006, 08:41 AM

How could shutting down/restarting possibly shorten the hard drive's life at all?

Like you said, standby halts the hard drive... wouldn't this be the same effect by your logic?

**TheMatt** · 06-20-2006, 01:48 PM

Since its summer here, I set my laptop to go on standby after an hour of being idle for the specific purpose of keeping the CPU cool. I don't shut it down because I don't want to have to wait for it to boot up. It only takes 40 seconds, but it takes only 2 seconds to resume from standby.

**laboye** · 06-20-2006, 02:13 PM

Yea, thats the idea behind me!

Well, it does take that extra little juice to spin up that big, heavy, massive "solid-state" storage device. Ok, I'll say it shortens the life by a good few seconds...

But, anyway, yea; standby's the way to go!

06-11-2006, 09:35 AM	#1 (permalink)
acehimself Registered User Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 5 OS: XP	Is it better to turn off my laptop of just leave it on standby? Ok so often times I turn on my laptop and use it for a little bit in the morning then I go to work for the day and I come back at night and use it some more. Under these circumstances, would you say that it's better for me to turn it off when I'm done using it in the morning completely or to just put it on standby, close the screen and leave it like that all day? thanks.

06-11-2006, 10:50 AM	#2 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,701 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	I just leave my laptop durring the day, and when I go to sleep at night, I put it on standby. Its probably not a good idea to be shuting down and booting up daily, plus it takes a lot longer than waking up the computer. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

06-11-2006, 06:26 PM	#5 (permalink)
Terrister Moderator Hardware Forum Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: West Georgia, USA Posts: 7,098 OS: Xp	In standby, most laptops draw so little power, overheating should not be a problem. I always leave mine in standby. __________________

06-11-2006, 09:11 PM	#6 (permalink)
Doby Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Central PA (USA) Posts: 8,057 OS: XP sp2/ Vista My System	I have read were closing the screen is not always a good idea if you can help it because it traps heat, its best to leave it open and manual go to standby, even when shuting down its best to leave it open for 10 minutes to cool __________________ Would you like to help TSF fight cancer and other diseases??? JOIN TEAM TSF

06-19-2006, 09:35 PM	#8 (permalink)
laboye TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Hollywood, FL Posts: 1,246 OS: Windows xp Pro/Vista Beta 2/Ubuntu 6.06 LTS My System	Standby is fine. When a computer is in standby, it halts the hard drive, downs the processor (and it's fan) and only draws enough power to keep the memory going. The computer will NOT get hot at all. Closing a computer while on will generally have no adverse effects as it does not emmit lots of heat from the keyboard. Shutting down and booting up, if anything would just shorten your hard drive's life by a couple days (they should last for 10 years, if you take care of them). Standby and Hibernate modes do not power on devices, and ergo do not generate heat. It is safe to leave your computer on standby for extended periods of time. If you are running on a battery, the battery power will likely drain and die within a couple of days. Use hibernate if you plan to not use it for that long. Both modes resume right where you left off, but hibernate saves whatever is in memory to the hard drive in a 'hibernation file', then completely shut's down the computer, using no power whatsoever. Last edited by laboye; 06-19-2006 at 09:36 PM.

06-11-2006, 04:21 PM	#4 (permalink)
saralvr247 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 15 OS: XP Pro	As long as it isn't on a soft surface, such as a pillow, carpet, etc, it shouldn't overheat. If you are worried, just run over to the local Wal-Mart and pick up a cooling pad. Cooling Pads

06-20-2006, 08:41 AM	#9 (permalink)
Fox TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: NJ Posts: 7,752 OS: XP Pro, CentOS My System	How could shutting down/restarting possibly shorten the hard drive's life at all? Like you said, standby halts the hard drive... wouldn't this be the same effect by your logic? __________________ Antec Neo Power 500W, ABIT IP35-E, Intel E2180@2.66Ghz, Corsair XMS2 2x1GB DDR2-800, PNY 8800GT, 320GB Seagate * lazy college student alert *- If I've inadvertently ignored a thread, please Let me know about it Have I helped you solve your problem? Donate to Techsupportforums Klart Skepp!

06-20-2006, 01:48 PM	#10 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,701 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Since its summer here, I set my laptop to go on standby after an hour of being idle for the specific purpose of keeping the CPU cool. I don't shut it down because I don't want to have to wait for it to boot up. It only takes 40 seconds, but it takes only 2 seconds to resume from standby. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

06-20-2006, 02:13 PM	#11 (permalink)
laboye TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Hollywood, FL Posts: 1,246 OS: Windows xp Pro/Vista Beta 2/Ubuntu 6.06 LTS My System	Yea, thats the idea behind me! Well, it does take that extra little juice to spin up that big, heavy, massive "solid-state" storage device. Ok, I'll say it shortens the life by a good few seconds... But, anyway, yea; standby's the way to go! __________________ Repair Windows XP Guide --- Resolutions Crazy Computer that I'm saving up for::Antec P180 Case;PC Pwr&Cooling 1kW Quad SLI PSU;Asus P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe;Intel Core2 XE X6800;Corsair TWIN2XP2048 2GB PC2-6400 DDR2 RAM;2xAsus GeForce 7950 GX2;BFG PhysX Accel.;IBM DVD-RAM/Plextor DVD±RW;Seagate 750GB HD 7200RPM;WDX 150GB 10000RPM;Vigor Monsoon TEC Cooler