NEED ADVICE: Leave Dell 1330 on all night or turn it off? What about updates and backup?

I am looking for advice on whether to leave my 1330 on all night or put it to sleep. I've heard that heat can become a problem for laptops, so I am concerned leaving it on 24/7 will cause issues.

However, my scheduled backups occur in the middle of the night, and the system default is to check for Windows updates in the middle of the night as well.

I'd be happy to have updates occur during the day, but backup takes a lot of time, and Acronis recommends having programs (like Outlook) closed when running backup. Therefore it'd be much more convenient to have that occur at night.

Is there a way to have the computer to wakeup at say 2AM for a backup beginning at 2:30AM with Acronis and then go back to sleep? Or, should I just leave the computer on and not worry about it?

Thanks for the help!

Tom

 

if ur computer is on a hard surface (no bedsheets or sofa). and the airvents are working properly then there is no need for u to worry. after all backing up and downloading stuff doesnt use much CPU and will not cause much heat

 

kuncheesh is correct. When laptops aren't under strain, they tend to run very cool. This wasn't the case a few years ago with P4-M's and P3's.

Greg

 

On or off is your choice. Some people swear by one, some the other and most don't think it makes a difference either way.

As for updates they download when they are available and when your computer is on regardless of your update schedule, they only install at the scheduled intervals. If you have updates pending when you choose to shutdown they will usually install then.

 

I would just leave it on all the time. The only time I had any problem with heat was with a P4 laptop that if I laid it on my bed for a while it would shutoff because it got too hot.

 

atbnet, GO BUCKS!

 

Leavig it on continuously wouldn't harm the components, as long as the temperatures are reasonable. I shut down mine only when installing updates, otherwise it is on all the time.. Usually a week at a stretch...

The life of electronic components is affected more by repeated on/ offs (change of state), rather than being in a steady state... Anyway, it is immaterial, since any ill effects of either of the two methods would not be apparent before the laptop is obsolete...

 

Since buying my m1330 in August of 2007, it's pretty much been left on all night, every night and for a few months now, it's been backing up to my WHS box.

 

just shut it off

 

I read that this is no longer true. It used to be many years back when components were fragile but today turning your computer on or off will not affect the computer. What it will do though is shorten the life span of other parts such as the hard drive or screen which can only operate for so many thousands of hours before they fail. Leaving it on constantly really adds up fast especially if this guy is doing daily backups that is straining the drive.

 

Go Bucks! Should have a good team again this year, maybe we can lose another national championship!

 

I put mine in sleep mode. Main reason is not using electricity for something I don't use... Yes I know sleep mode still draws power but it's much less.

I have this vision of 100 millions personal computers left on 24/7 drawing power...

 

Why don't you buy one of this?
http://www.coolermaster.com/products/product.php?language=en&act=detail&tbcate=1&id=2581

 

I have left mine on 24/7 for almost a year and a half. I have the screen shutoff after X amount of time and I have it on a laptop cooling pad.

 

Most of us who leave it on have the screen set to turn off.. And as for the hard disk, MTBFs range from 100000 hours to over several million hours.. As I said, the computer wil become obsolete much before anything can fail, assuming nothing was defective to begin with...

The major concern in any electronic circuit is heat dissipation, and as long as that is under control, all is fine..

 

elevate the back of the laptop with a book or something and run a small 80mm fan to circulate air no problems

 

you mean you can turn them off?

 

Ive left my desktops running 24/7 with no hard drive failures as of today (knock on wood) and they only get turned off during severe thunder storms, or restarted.

ive also done the same thing with an old laptop, a dell inspiron 9300, left it on 24/7 except for restarts and severe storms, and its still running just fine with no problems, except the battery is shot in it but thats expected over time from what i hear.

 

True enough. The battery is the one which is bound to wear.. followed by the ccfl tubes on the display.. Hard drives are damaged mostly by sudden jerks when in use.. which is n/a in case of a desktop, and rare enough for notebooks too...

 

Leaving your gear on for updates alone isn't environmentally feasible. Why not go "green" and just turn it off. You can manually install the updates later.

 

Depends on where I am. I don't have to pay the electric bill at college, or drive the electric bill up like I do at home so ...

At college, I usually leave the Inspiron running with the display set to turn off after 1 minute (this is only at night so I can sleep). During the day, I leave it on with the display on. The thinkpad is plugged in but not charging in standby mode - I usually go 2-3 weeks at a time without powering down/rebooting the thinkpad.

And of course my server is always on with the 2 external drives.

At home it's a different story ...
The server is always running with it's hard drives, but laptops get shut down completely when not being used and the batteries get pulled.

My old Dell Optiplex 150 that I used for a server ran for 40 days without a reboot or being powered down. I powered it down to go on vacation for a week. Came back a week later and it was never right again for some reason but I think it was just a tired old computer.


So what I have to contribute: I don't think it will affect todays solid state components or notebook hard drives either way.

Also consider this - if you turn off your laptop to be green, make sure to unplug the power adapter from the wall - the adapter uses power even if it isn't being used on the laptop.

 

Great advice!!! Also, using a surge and flipping the switch on that is much more convienient if you have two power adapters (one for home and one while you're on the go). That's what I do.

 

Thanks for all the input! Seems the majority of folks say to just leave it on.

Assuming that's what I'll do, what's the best backup scheme/procedure to follow?

1) Once a week differential backup using Acronis to external HDD
2) Nightly backup but same as above
3) Weekly write to CDs
4) Something else