Does a laptop go bad if not used ?

If I dont use a laptop for 1-2 years, will it go bad ?
How often should it be powered up to not fail ?

 

Hmmm, well, if stored correctly (no humidity - reasonable temperature) with no battery in it, a laptop should - in terms of the electronics last decades - at least years - because there is no stress on the material.

Your Lithium Ion battery will decay either way - I believe the frozen state (sealed airtight) is the best way of storing it to reduce deay.

Tha leaves only one component in the laptop that needs a bit of thought - the CMOS battery (or how is that little back up called).
But then, the question is, is it needed? (The BIOS is written in Flash memory, no?)
And if it is needed - how long does it last.

 

^ BIOS is written on a ROM and the CMOS battery is just to keep track of the time and settings. You can run a system without one.

I turned my 10 year old macintosh on after like 5 years sitting in the garage, literally brought it back from the dead and it worked just fine

Batteries usually degrade then leak over the years if kept idle.

 

As long as the HDD, CPU, MOBO and RAM have had no accidents or damages, the computer should be able to run.
Battery will die eventually, even if not used.
Data will be safe as long as you dont damage the HDD.

 

A computer isn't fruit. It will last for a long time without use.

 

I found a old mac laptop in my uncle garage. It's a powerbook 540c, The thing was built before Apple started using PowerPC cpus and while the battery is dead, it works fine. It still works fine even though it has been collecting dust for 15 years... So as long as it's left in a dry place, a computer will keep working even centuries later.
Plastic, fiberglass and silicon do not spoil or degrade when left alone.

 

There's a reason manufacturers don't use biodegradable materials in their laptops. Your laptop will be just fine, as long as you don't store it in a swamp or anywhere else with high humidity.

 

I remember once booting an IBM 5150 (circa 1986) that had been sitting unused for many years. Everything worked except the battery.

 

Ugh, what happens if I live in a city where it rains a lot ? I would store it indoors of course, but the humidity level is 60-80%.

 

Seal it, or try to keep it the driest possible.

Laptops have a tolerance up to 80-85% normally, so it should be ok in theory. And considering that range allows some extra just in case (I know, mine had a rated 85% and in my old city we reached 93% and the laptop survived 2 years of that high humidity). But consider storing it on a dry place.

 

At a minimum capacitors will degrade and cease to function. Multi-layer circuit boards will de-laminate. Any soft rubber (seals, air filters, rest bump stops) will soften into sticky gunk. Copper and tin will oxidize. Brass sleeved fan hubs will seize up.

The old disaster-pr0n movie myth of survivors finding a stash of working technology is bunk.

 

ya, no problem~!
however, you might lose the battery's capacity!