School Laptop: is standby/hibernation a good thing when walking

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Had a disk failure this summer. Wonder if its related to use of standby when
moving computer to library/lab from apartment. Should I be shutting down
computer all the way instead of using standby?
 
johngi said:
Had a disk failure this summer. Wonder if its related to use of standby
when
moving computer to library/lab from apartment. Should I be shutting down
computer all the way instead of using standby?
Click to expand...

It really depends on how hot the laptop runs. It's OK to hibernate because
that is actually turning the machine off. We had a lot of laptops die a
heat death in our school laptop program this year because the kids put them
into standby - which means the machine is still running - and then put them
in the closed laptop cases. There's no way of knowing why your hard drive
died, of course. It could be completely unrelated, but I would suggest
hibernating rather than just standing by if you are putting the machine in
its case and going somewhere.

Malke
 
OK, I buy into the over heat issue. Laptop is in a backpack with books when
going to lab/library. My concern was how is the drive parked in shutdown vs
hibernate vs standby mode. Is the drive more at risk in a backpack in 1 or 2
of the modes vs the others?
 
Hibernating or shutting down is your best option. Standby mode does shut
down the HDD, but, if the power runs out (not likely, since it's using so
little), you'll lose what it saved in memory.

Hibernation means that it is not using power at all. So the beast can stay
unplugged for days, and you don't have to worry.

Never thought of the overheating issue with the cases - I'll bet my college
lost a few that way.


~Rebecca
 
johngi said:
OK, I buy into the over heat issue. Laptop is in a backpack with books
when
going to lab/library. My concern was how is the drive parked in shutdown
vs
hibernate vs standby mode. Is the drive more at risk in a backpack in 1
or 2 of the modes vs the others?
Click to expand...

You want to either shut down or hibernate, which as I explained is shutting
down.

Malke
 
=?Utf-8?B?am9obmdp?= said:
Had a disk failure this summer. Wonder if its related to use of standby when
moving computer to library/lab from apartment. Should I be shutting down
computer all the way instead of using standby?
Click to expand...

A hard disk failure can happen at ANY moment, starting from the moment
you install the hard drive. Standy is not the reason.
 
A hard disk failure can happen at ANY moment, starting from the moment
you install the hard drive. Standy is not the reason.
Click to expand...

It could have also been caused by this:

When you put your laptop in suspend it will normally be set to resume
when you open the lid/top. When you suspend it and then put it in a bag,
as the bag moves, the pressure on the lid/top can sometimes cause the
laptop to resume and keep running inside the bag, even with the lid
closed. This will lead to overheating... and cause premature failure of
parts, hard drive being one. I'm not saying that it's what happened, but
I've seen it several times.
 
New plan for standby, hibernate, full power down
1. Standby when at desk and leaving apartment for a bit - allows for a
quick startup
2. Hibernate active for only when running on batteries and level gets to
critical point just prior to shutting down. (Like when I'm at library or lab
without power)
3. Full power down. Anytime the laptop is going to be moved and put in
backpack.
Thanks to all of great advice!
Johngi
 
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