sleep vs. hibernation, will anti-virus scans etc still run?

[Guest]

I have a new laptop and am new to vista home premium. If I set my laptop to
enter into sleep and/or hibernation, will my laptop still do the scheduled
virus/spyware scans and hardware backups? So........what are the preferred
settings with the computer running on the external supply?

also, is it a good idea to leave laptops on 24/7? I've always had desktops
in the past and this never caused me any problems.

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

These programs will not run, unless they have an option to wake the computer
from sleep.

You can use the Task Manager to wake the computer and run the programs.

Laptops are not really made to run 24/7.

 

[LaRoux]

Most laptops aren't designed to be left on continuously. Mainly it's a heat
dissipation issue.

Of greater concern is your battery. Assuming your laptop battery is a
Lithium-Ion (Li-ion) type, it is designed to be partially charged and
discharged hundreds if not thousands of times. Where you reduce the total
battery life is in the full discharge\recharge cycles that most people put
theirs through. If you can avoid discharging down to 0% and recharging up to
100%, you can significantly increase the life of the battery. Leaving it
plugged in and the battery charging all the time can reduce the useful life
of the battery to less than a year.