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Moving Macbook while turned on? Ok or bad?

F

FriedPotatoes

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 17, 2008
22
0
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.
 
FriedPotatoes said:
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.
Click to expand...

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...
 
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).
 
jonbravo77 said:
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...
Click to expand...

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.
 
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.
 
I try not to move mine too much when there is a DVD in it, otherwise I don't worry.
 
fine go ahead and move you mac while its on, but dont come crying to us or applecare when it blows up :p
 
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.
 
skye12 said:
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.
Click to expand...

or any other hard surface for that matter... :cool:
 
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
 
YetioDoom said:
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 :eek:
Click to expand...

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.
 
iTzChasE said:
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).
Click to expand...

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.
 
A year later but maybe someone's still reading...

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.
 
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.
 
OzH1 said:
...but wanted to let you know my late 2009 macbook pro manual clearly states this.
Click to expand...

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.
 
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