Thinkpads Forum

Just wondering, do most people leave their thinkpads plugged in all the time and let it go on standby over night, or do you power down every night? Is one better for the laptop than the other?

I power my laptop down every evening. For the most part, I am going somewhere else in the morning, and a fresh start affords Access Connections of finding the right connection for my day's work. Also, transportation is a none issue because the machine is off. I just like it better this way. (I know about standby and hibernating).

I have also heard (but not in an expert, authoritative way) that ThinkPad hard drives are not designed for 24x7 operation like desktop hard drives (will be off if suspended or hibernated). Further, I like the idea of not having the power system connected 24x7 - I don't know if it was designed for that. Some authoritative answers here will be helpful.
... JD Hurst

I've always compromised on the argument of whether to turn off completely or suspend by using the hibernate funciton.

Hibernate first dumps all data in the RAM to a file on the hard drive then powers the computer off. When you turn the computer back on, the RAM is restored from that file and you leave off where you were when you first hibernated.

I'm running Seti@home, so mine stays up and running all the time unless I'm traveling between work and home.

Laptops are not designed to be run 24/7.
Windows was not designed to run without ever being rebooted. (Suspend/resume does not count as a reboot.)

My $0.02 worth. $0.01 each. What a deal!

Laptops are not designed to be run 24/7.
Windows was not designed to run without ever being rebooted. (Suspend/resume does not count as a reboot.)

I had my windows box at work without ever rebooting for over 150 days 24/7. Never crashed. I run many programs and codes, connect to UNIX servers, regularily take up close 1 GB of RAM while I work.

As long as it is set up properly WinXP is extremely stable. Just like any OS these days, it not the OS that is problematic, a lot of time it is the user settings, incompartible third party hardwares and drivers. I think it is thing of the past when WIN98 / ME regularily crashed with BSOD.[/quote]

SeanM wrote:Laptops are not designed to be run 24/7.
Windows was not designed to run without ever being rebooted <snip>

You have to reboot any machine / OS occasionally (Linux, Windows, and so on). Still, I have had the two most recent Windows Professional OS's (2000 and XP) running 24x7 for 6 years except for occasional reboots, vacation power downs and one machine changeover - so "almost" 24x7 - with no unannounced crashes.

... JD Hurst

>Laptops are not designed to be run 24/7.
Windows was not designed to run without ever being rebooted. (Suspend/resume does not count as a reboot.)
>

(Staring silently at the T23 that's been running 24x7 for the 3 years that I've had it and the 600X that's been running 24x7 for the 4+ years that I've had it and wondering what is wrong with them and their predecessors!)

Rebooted occasionally? Yes, but I don't remember the last time that happened. They're both running W2k.

Now the T40 that's running XP Pro has to be rebooted at least once a week, but that's due to the POS custom preload it has loaded on it. It's my employer's property, and without admin rights on it, there's nothing I can do.

nonny wrote:>Laptops are not designed to be run 24/7.
Windows was not designed to run without ever being rebooted. (Suspend/resume does not count as a reboot.)
>

(Staring silently at the T23 that's been running 24x7 for the 3 years that I've had it and the 600X that's been running 24x7 for the 4+ years that I've had it and wondering what is wrong with them and their predecessors!)

Yes yes yes. . . and you might have great success going offroad in a Yugo. I didn't say you coudn't do it. . . I said it wasn't designed for it.

Not to be too picky, Sean, but you said two things at once:
1. Laptops are not designed to run 24x7. I basically agree (as I noted) and the two machines I referred to that ran for years were Desktops and I should have said that.
2. Windows is not designed to run 24x7. I figure 4 years plus 2 years with occasional reboots (like Linux) pretty much says it was designed to run continuously. I am very satisfied with its track record in this regard.
Cheers, ... JD Hurst

Both of my thinkpads live in suspend, I have never had them come out of it when i didn't want, and they are reliable and instant on. When the machine is in suspend, the hard drives are off and very little power is running through the machine, I see no reason to turn it off, I reboot it when i make hardware or software changes and no more than that, my desktop, I turn off, I only use it for gaming. It pulls too much power to justify bering on all of the time. And my router (PC300) stays on 24x7 with only a western digital 80gb connected for ftp and file sharing services. With all of that, my electric bill is only $35 a month. Including an electric stove and a Toshiba Hi-Def 34"

Not an expert at all but I don't think there's any real significant difference in leaving it on 24/7 or not as far as the HDD is concerned, it's effect on the battery may be a different story though but probably not enough to be concerned over. What ever suits your needs is just fine, I'm sure.

Rebooting any OS is definitely a good idea. I reboot mine after any major changes to anything, especially updates.