Is it safe to close the MBP lid while Windows is running?

[Earthling84]

I'm talking about if you have Windows set to do nothing and keep running if you shut the lid, useful for downloading large files overnight or something without letting the screen and keyboard get dusty.

I've noticed that closing a MBP blocks over half of the ventilation space in the back, so of course it's going to get hotter than normal, and the screen is about 1mm away from the hot aluminum when it's closed, so I'm concerned about the heat damaging the screen. Does anyone have any experience or insight related to this? Thanks

 

[LtRammstein]

It's never a good idea to decrease the cooling flow of a computer.

I recommend just turning off the screen and leave it wide open on a tough flat surface. If you want, put a fan to it.

 

[rgarjr]

It all depends if you're in a room with A/C in there.

 

[AVR2]

It's never a good idea to decrease the cooling flow of a computer

Apple provides official instructions for operating its laptops (iBooks excepted) with the screen closed, so the hardware must be designed to work like that.

Having said that, it looks like the computer will sleep unless you connect an external keyboard, mouse and/or monitor, so you may well just have to leave the screen open anyway.