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kajeff

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 25, 2004
4
0
Columbus, IN
I was wondering if anyone new the answer to this question.


I am carrying my iBook around a lot and i read that that you should not move your laptop while it is running. I have been shuting the machine down everytime and i was wondering if there was an easyer way to do this.

I would appreciate it if anyone would respond.

Thanks
 
Just put it to sleep

kajeff said:
I was wondering if anyone new the answer to this question.


I am carrying my iBook around a lot and i read that that you should not move your laptop while it is running. I have been shuting the machine down everytime and i was wondering if there was an easyer way to do this.

I would appreciate it if anyone would respond.

Thanks

I've never shut down a laptop before carrying it around, and I've never had a problem. I've just been closing the lid, putting it to sleep, for years. You're like that diaper commerical--Live and learn, and then get Huggs.
 
iBook transport

kajeff said:
I was wondering if anyone knew the answer to this question.
I am carrying my iBook around a lot and i read that
you should not move your laptop while it is running.
I have been shuting the machine down everytime and
i was wondering if there was an easier way to do this.

I would appreciate it if anyone would respond.
Thanks
WELCOME to MacRumors, kajeff

Suggest you Edit your Profile to show where you are and
what you do, it helps to understand who is asking what and where.

I believe closing your iBook, putting it to sleep, for short periods
of time is acceptable. Like between clases at school.

During extended periods of inactivity, it's pretty smart to
Shut Down your iBook, like while in transport or
while you are not in secure possession of your book
even in a locked room.

If you are going to leave your book unattended for awhile,
like while you go to lunch, SHUT it off so that a
LOG IN is required when you return, otherwise,
while you are gone who ever wakes your Mac up has access.
There is a safeguard that requires entering a password
when waking from sleep, but I've never used it.

It is always dangerous to move a Hard Drive (in a laptop)
if it is operating because Hard Drives do not like to be moved if active.
Hard Drives have a couple of discs that spin at between 4,200 to 7,200 revolutions per minute (rpm) while your book is ON.
Those disks resist motion (laws of physics) because of the
gyroscope effecton a spinning disk.
Add to this several heads on the ends of metal rods that rapidly
"seek" information on the spinning disks - jarring movements cause
head crashes (crashing a computer).

Memory in Professional Digital Cameras are usually either high-speed
CompactFlash cards (4GB @ 40x and soon 8GB @ 80x) with NO moving parts and Life-Time warranty, or
IBM miniature drives which are so small they fit into a CompactFlash slot -
and that is tiny. Because the miniature drive does have moving parts,
jarring the camera while the drive is running can crash or kill the drive. Not good.

Do "NOT move your laptop while it is running" - is correct.
Do "NOT move an External Drive while it is running" - is also correct.

Does your HD run while asleep, no, it is not supposed to.
Does your HD run while SHUT DOWN, absolutely NOT.
Does your HD drain the battery while asleep, yes - just a little.

Use common sense. and you should be alright.
 
I opened the door on my blue and white once while it was running and it paused the system for a sec. I have done this other times and nothing happened. the pause thing only happened once. it is a good rule of thumb not to do anything to hardware while its running.
 
Thanks,

I thought that moving it while sleeping would not hurt the Hard drive, but i could not find the answer to my question any where else.

Thanks again
 
I've taken my iBook on trans-atlantic flights while sleeping. All I can say is that you should wait until the pulsing light comes on after closing the lid, this means that all the drives are asleep, and that the computer is ready to be moved. When my computer sleeps the battery will drain to about 96-98%, and then pretty much stay there for a very long period of time. Leaving it asleep for two days will maybe take the battery down 1%. The battery seems to charge slower and drain faster from 94-100%.

I would go nuts if I were to shut down my computer every time I went somewhere with it. The start up process uses a lot of battery power as well. Simply close the lid and you'll be fine. I've had my computer running for a week, in transit twice a day, with no problems.
 
Puting a laptop to sleep will spin down the hard drive and park the heads, just like shutting down. In addition the iBook hard drive is mounted on rubber "shock absorbers". This makes them extra durable for school use.
 
robbieduncan said:
Puting a laptop to sleep will spin down the hard drive and park the heads, just like shutting down. In addition the iBook hard drive is mounted on rubber "shock absorbers". This makes them extra durable for school use.

sleep will probably cause more issues than moving it. so many people have issues with sleep.
 
blue&whiteman said:
sleep will probably cause more issues than moving it. so many people have issues with sleep.

I've never had a problem with sleep...granted if I leave my USB networking plugged in when putting my computer to sleep it will freeze 1 out of 5 times...It has really shoddy drivers though, always has...
 
Sleep mode is fine for transport (the hard drive is not spinning). I have taken several cross country flights, with corresponding car travel, without any issues.

However, do not get made and throw your iBook across the room while it is still open! (yes I did this, and had to buy a new hdd - a nice 60GB 7,200rpm Hitachi)
 
iPC said:
Sleep mode is fine for transport (the hard drive is not spinning). I have taken several cross country flights, with corresponding car travel, without any issues.

However, do not get made and throw your iBook across the room while it is still open! (yes I did this, and had to buy a new hdd - a nice 60GB 7,200rpm Hitachi)

OUCH! But, I have to ask, was the rest of the computer okay?!
 
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