is it best to shut down my macbook weneva im not using it or shud i put it in sleep? i heard sum1 say that it runs beta if u dont keep turnin it on and off
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on or off?
- Thread starter macbookpaul
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Turning On/Off heats & cools the components which in turn could shorten the life of your Mac. Putting it to sleep does no harm. I usually keep my MacBook in sleep, but every 3 or 4 days I do a power cycle for one reason or another. (Software Update, or just general restart, etc)
Shutting down a computer and then turning it back on will not damage your computer. This is a myth. I have been using computers for years and I shut them off and turn them back on, on a very regular basis. Up until 2 years ago I still has a Pentium 2 working flawlessly built with parts that were also as old as the processor. This computer was rarely put to sleep (hibernation) and was usually shut down.
The same is also true for a MacBook or other portable computer. I have one and I turn it on and off anywhere from 6 to 10 times a day. And it still works with no errors and is still completely reliable.
I don't know when it became harmful to use the normal features of the Operating System to perform a task which the hardware was designed to do. Saying that it is harmful to shut down a computer is absurd. If it does shorten the life of a computer then the reduction of life for the product is negligible.
Whenever I am going to be away from my computer for a long period of time, it gets shut down. By doing this my computers last for many years and operate without hardware problems.
I never intentionally shut down my iMac, only when I have to restart for software updates or power failures. For example we had a power failure today which (obviously) made iMac shut down. Before this, my computer was on/sleep for 3+ weeks.
If you turn off/on your computers so many times a day, why dont you use sleep mode?? Or do you like to wait for comps to start up/shut down?
Its not harmful to turn off computers. Its harmful to turn them on after they have cooled down. Cold start.
Same with light bulbs. They often burn out when you turn them on, not when they are on.
If you turn off/on your computers so many times a day, why dont you use sleep mode?? Or do you like to wait for comps to start up/shut down?
Its not harmful to turn off computers. Its harmful to turn them on after they have cooled down. Cold start.
Same with light bulbs. They often burn out when you turn them on, not when they are on.
If you turn off/on your computers so many times a day, why dont you use sleep mode?? Or do you like to wait for comps to start up/shut down?
Its not harmful to turn off computers. Its harmful to turn them on after they have cooled down. Cold start.
Same with light bulbs. They often burn out when you turn them on, not when they are on.
I am a student and I go from class to class usually with an hour or two in between each. The computer takes 20 seconds to go from a cold off to on and ready to use.
And 2 seconds from sleep
Seriously, Sleep consumes so little power, I dont see a point in turning computer off/on during the day.
And 2 seconds from sleep
Seriously, Sleep consumes so little power, I dont see a point in turning computer off/on during the day.
I'm not contending the usefulness of sleep. If I am going away for a little while to watch TV or whatever I will put the computer to sleep, but I wont loose any sleep waiting the additional 18 seconds for it to start up (no pun intended...well maybe a small one
).I understand the light bulb analogy, but I do not think it applies with computers. I have always shut them off and turned them back on. I find I end up taking the computer apart and then make key chains out of obsolete parts, before it ever stops working.
Plus 20 seconds to shutdown.
Plus another 30 seconds after booting before things become snappy again.
Plus another 5 seconds to reinit your dashboard after a shutdown.
If it works for you, that's cool, but the experience of sleeping/waking from sleep is nothing like shutting down/booting (time wise, anyways).
Putting a MacBook to sleep is a good option...when at a desk.
I've had my sleeping MacBook spontaneously turn on twice while transporting it in my bag. It was practically molten when I discovered it and would not start back up for half an hour. This may have something to do with bicycle commuting (a few bumps along the way) but after experiencing a scorching, unresponsive macbook twice, I WILL NEVER transport my Macbook while asleep again.
I've had my sleeping MacBook spontaneously turn on twice while transporting it in my bag. It was practically molten when I discovered it and would not start back up for half an hour. This may have something to do with bicycle commuting (a few bumps along the way) but after experiencing a scorching, unresponsive macbook twice, I WILL NEVER transport my Macbook while asleep again.
Plus 20 seconds to shutdown.
Plus another 30 seconds after booting before things become snappy again.
Plus another 5 seconds to reinit your dashboard after a shutdown.
If it works for you, that's cool, but the experience of sleeping/waking from sleep is nothing like shutting down/booting (time wise, anyways).
Ok so 25 seconds then if you count dashboard. But after the desktop comes up it is ready to do whatever I want it to do with no lag or spinning gear.
But aside from that, where is the proof shutting a computer off and then letting it sit for a while then turning it back on is damaging to the system? A lot of people say it is, but no one has ever shown any proof. If it were true that turning a computer on after it had sat off for a while was harmful to the hardware, we all would have shiny new macs that sat inside their boxes unused. I don't know of anyone who would willfully damage a $1200+ investment.
Don't know. In the 15+ years I've been using PCs, I've never had a problem that I could attribute to shutting down systems.
OTOH, in my last year-and-a-half with a Mac notebook, I've had so few problems with sleeping it, I don't see what's gained by shutting it down (except to avoid the risk of awakening it in your bag if it's getting bounced around).
it is beta if u jus put it to sleep weneva u rnt using it no need to turnit off
I had the toughest time trying to figure out that "weneva" meant "whenever". Mind using proper grammar next time?
If you turn off/on your computers so many times a day, why dont you use sleep mode?? Or do you like to wait for comps to start up/shut down?
Its not harmful to turn off computers. Its harmful to turn them on after they have cooled down. Cold start.
Same with light bulbs. They often burn out when you turn them on, not when they are on.
Last I checked, when my iMac was asleep NONE of the components were actually doing anything... and it CERTAINLY doesn't stay warm. Therefore starting a computer from sleep would be just as "harmful" as turning it on.
Of course who wants to wait for a computer to boot up whenever they want to check the weather? Certainly not me.
I usually just shut the lid and put it to sleep. Then I come back, open the lid and I'm off working again. Never really gave it a second thought and never have had any issues I'm aware of.
Mine did something similar! I downloaded a widget from Apple called "Deep Sleep" which is the equivalent of Windows "hibernate." Now it doesn't wake up randomly, though it does take maybe 10 seconds or so to start up.
Of course it doesnt stay warm, but a few components are powered up, RAM and FW for example.
The only component that most dislikes to be turned on/off is a hard drive.
Anyway, its better to keep computer running all the time
I never knew that turning a computer on and off was harmful to the computer over time. I just figured it was part of its normal operating function. I wouldn't have ever thought that turning it on and off would even be somthing people would have to talk about. Shows how much I know.
When the computer is constantly powered on and off, it heats up and cools down. This warm up causes all of the metal paths and solder joints to expand. When the system is powered off, it cools and all the metal contracts back down to its normal state. Metal fatigues with constant repetitive motion. Those are the facts.
The theory is that over time the pathways and solder joints can fatigue and break. It's not hard to imagine, and seems very possible, that a system could fail from this. However I have never had that problem, nor has anyone I know. Still, my machines stay running constantly.
The theory is that over time the pathways and solder joints can fatigue and break. It's not hard to imagine, and seems very possible, that a system could fail from this. However I have never had that problem, nor has anyone I know. Still, my machines stay running constantly.
So what's the difference between OS X putting the hard disks to sleep (its default power mgmt setting) vs. turning it off?
Both cause the drive's heads to park and the platters to stop rotating.
People actually believe shutting down a computer is harmful??? That is like saying when you turn off your Tv it makes the lifespan go down because the wires get hot. Who thinks of all these out of the box things? Remember kids dont turn off your computer it may be so freezing cold when you start it that it would take 20 hours for it to heat back up making a chemical explosion!!!!! Really give some proof to back this "theory" up if its such a big damage surely there is an article about it somewhere.
Who thinks of all these out of the box things? Remember kids dont turn off your computer it may be so freezing cold when you start it that it would take 20 hours for it to heat back up making a chemical explosion!!!!! Really give some proof to back this "theory" up if its such a big damage surely there is an article about it somewhere.The only thing I was able to Google up was "back in the day, when you turned off power to a hard drive, it didn't automatically park its heads, which COULD cause data corruption".
People actually believe shutting down a computer is harmful??? That is like saying when you turn off your Tv it makes the lifespan go down because the wires get hot.
I wouldn't worry about it. It is just a theory. Based on how metal reacts to heat, it COULD happen, probably won't ever, but could.
I was also curious about why a lot of mac users claim that shutting down a computer "shortens it's life" as opposed to letting it sleep.
If the image of the computer's state is stored in the RAM, as removing the battery while in sleep and unplugged causes the image to be lost...if anything the method of sleeping would cause the RAM to be "worn out" faster.
Cmon guys...computers have been shutting off for years.
If the image of the computer's state is stored in the RAM, as removing the battery while in sleep and unplugged causes the image to be lost...if anything the method of sleeping would cause the RAM to be "worn out" faster.
Cmon guys...computers have been shutting off for years.