how long is it safe to run a laptop without shutting it down.

how long is it safe to run a laptop without shutting it down.
i mean not entirely on a/c power but switching it to battery and when battery is fully discharged allowing it to connect to a/c power or sleep or hibernate and leave it in sleep to hibernate mode may be all night so that u can it quickly in the morning without waiting it to load up.
how long can i do this process,without shutting it down?

 

you can run it 24/7 if you want, as long as it`s not at full power.

It`s the switching off and on that kills them!!!

But you may find your system getting slower and slower the longer it is on, and i have heard that memory usage slowly gets bigger and bigger!

So it`s good to do a re-boot every other day!!

 

ive had my laptop for over 2 years... 1 and a half on xp, rest on vista... no slowdowns.. never ever ever ever ever shut it down.. still runs smooth... (only shutdown for reboots...) i always use sleep... so from my xperience... u hsouldnt have any issues


btw never let ur battery drain down, always recharge on ~10-20% battery left

 

Exactly. You should re-boot everday as it clears the ram.

 

I've not had my laptop shutdown for more then 5 minutes once a month, so basically it's been on 24/7 since I got it last October. (Compal FL90), I've had no issues at all with it, no slows downs or anything like that.

 

Every day is a bit more than needed IMO. But it doesn't hurt anything.

I tend to reboot mine about every week or two. But even then I don't always shut it down for any period of time to do so; I may just restart. It's generally sleeping or hibernating when not in use.

 

I run my vostro 24/7. It just comes down to how hot the room will be and whether or not it has good airflow. Mine sits on a NZXT cryo cooler in a decent temp room and have not had an issue in almost 9 months.

 

That is no longer true at least under Vista and most current apps. I run for WEEKS without a reboot, using sleep or hibernation when not in front of the laptop. My memory use does not creep up over time.

Gary

 

Urban myth. I am a developer and keep a close eye on memory usage. Unless you have an app with a memory leak use does not grow. And with Vista's memory management cleanup routines, when most apps are closed Vista cleans up the mess from the leaks. Notice I said MOST.

Gary

 

Yeah memory leaks are not so much an issue in vista. After being on for a few weeks its the same speed as it was when I first started it. I restart about once every two weeks or so after maintenance. But I have been known to leave it on for 3 or more months without a restart. I remember I used to keep my acer 5672 running all the time and it still wasn't bad on a clean XP install.

 

thanx for great responses guys....
i came to conclude tht there is no harm in running a laptop without shutting it down.

cheers...

 

FOREVER*


*Until hardware failure.

 

Laptop these days are robust and can withstand booting or being on 24/7. Just make sure it has good air circulation when it's running.. heat is the enemy of laptops/notebooks.

 

@ mufflan - what have you got?