Moving Macbook while turned on? Ok or bad?

[FriedPotatoes]

A curious question:

Is it ok to move the macbook while it is turned on? I know about the spinning HDD, but if you were to move it carefully without banging into anything ok?

The old notebooks HDDs weren't designed as good...not sure if new HDDs have some sort of shock mechanism to protect it from contact between disk platter and read head.

Cheers.

[jonbravo77]

A curious question:

Is it ok to move the macbook while it is turned on? I know about the spinning HDD, but if you were to move it carefully without banging into anything ok?

The old notebooks HDDs weren't designed as good...not sure if new HDDs have some sort of shock mechanism to protect it from contact between disk platter and read head.

Cheers.

It's fine to move you MB while it's on. I move my MBP all over the place while it is on. As long as you don't drop it or do anything rough to it everything is good to go...

[iTzChasE]

Its ok, just don't do anything you wouldn't do to a baby.

No upside down, spin fast, Jerk back and forth and Yell. Nothing along those lines and you will be find.

Walking around, it should be fine. Just don't drop it (another thing you shouldn't do to a baby).

[WPB2]

It's fine to move you MB while it's on. I move my MBP all over the place while it is on. As long as you don't drop it or do anything rough to it everything is good to go...

Even then its got a sudden drop sensor, so if anything happens the hard disc freezes in place. So you should be good even if you drop it.

[Andrew K.]

I move mine all the time while it's on my bed :) I'm sure you'll be fine

[shawnpringle]

NO DON'T MOVE IT!
Before you move it, make sure to save and shut down your entire macbook. Now remove the battery and charger, move to destination, insert battery, and re-boot.


Honestly, your fine.

[applgeek]

I throw my dell in the air while its on, and it seems fine.

[Andrew K.]

I throw my dell in the air while its on, and it seems fine.

Yeah I just got back from playing frisbee with my new Alu Macbook and I'm typing on it right now :D

[drichards]

I try not to move mine too much when there is a DVD in it, otherwise I don't worry.

[likemyorbs]

fine go ahead and move you mac while its on, but dont come crying to us or applecare when it blows up :p

[skye12]

Yes you can move. But only 50 feet at a time, wait one minute and then
50 more feet very slowwwwlllyyy.

Seriously, you can move it all you want. Just avoid dropping on concrete.

[VSMacOne]

Yes you can move. But only 50 feet at a time, wait one minute and then
50 more feet very slowwwwlllyyy.

Seriously, you can move it all you want. Just avoid dropping on concrete.

or any other hard surface for that matter... :cool:

[tubbymac]

I move mine all the time when it's on and haven't noticed any problems.

[kastenbrust]

If you have a SSD then your extra good to go.

[Prekesh]

i move mine all the time, and have MacSaber fights with my friends (how sad).

[WinkWink726]

hang on now...

I move mine all the time, but i have read that you should avoid moving it when you just start it up or when you're just shutting it down.

it said you should listen to it and try not to move it until the guts stop spinning

[FriedPotatoes]

Hahaha...just checking that's all.

Cheers everyone

[shady825]

it said you should listen to it and try not to move it until the guts stop spinning

It actually says you should wait for the sleep light to start flashing before you move it.

[99MustangGTman]

I do it all the time...

[YetioDoom]

Don't squeeze it too much, especially if there's a CD in the drive. I did this and it made a terrible scratching noise :o

[gnasher729]

Don't squeeze it too much, especially if there's a CD in the drive. I did this and it made a terrible scratching noise :o

Good advice. Don't grab it at one corner and hold it on that corner alone, especially on the side with the CD drive. Better to hold it on both sides, or from below.

"Don't do anything you wouldn't do to a baby" seems a good idea.

[cellocello]

Its ok, just don't do anything you wouldn't do to a baby.

No upside down, spin fast, Jerk back and forth and Yell. Nothing along those lines and you will be find.

Walking around, it should be fine. Just don't drop it (another thing you shouldn't do to a baby).

This seems like the simplest, best way of going about it.

I'd just add that if you hear noise (DVD, HDD, etc.) I'd be even extra gentle with it when moving.

[OzH1]

Hi - I found this forum because I was reading in my macbook pro manual that the machine shouldn't be moved while the hard drive is spinning because it could damage it. It said you should close the lid and wait til the light starts flashing before moving it. This bugged me since I've been moving it while it's on constantly - as if it were a baby of course. I googled and found this forum as a result - I'm glad no one has had a problem and I can't see myself closing the lid everytime I want to move it (I'm constantly moving it in bed and will likely continue) but wanted to let you know my late 2009 macbook pro manual clearly states this.

[applgeek]

I move my dell around all the time while its running and its fine. Due to apple's track record, you are more likely to have your hard drive destroy itself than it somehow getting messed up by moving it.

[smithmax13]

...but wanted to let you know my late 2009 macbook pro manual clearly states this.

Probably just for liability. I never worry about moving mine while it's on, but a few times I have heard the hdd suddenly stop because the motion sensors activated.

[Mike Macintosh]

As long as you don't do the Hokey pokey it should be fine.