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Flannelling by IT man? Can anyone advise the difference between a computer in 'sleep' and 'shut down'

Marianne72

Ive used the same IT man for years to repair and replace various computers. But lately as I learn more, I wonder if I'm being flannelled. £60 for brief advice today seems a lot which is why I am beginning to wonder if I am being stupid! Can anyone please advise, the difference between a computer in 'sleep mode' and 'shut down.' Is it ok to leave a laptop plugged in all the time or does it wear the battery out? Is it best to shut down all the time or can I 'sleep' it most of the time. Advice would be appreciated. 

  • in reply to ArchaeC

    Pretty good explanation! 

    I work from home and my computer is on all day- at lunch time and dinner time I'll go away and it will typically go into sleep mode itself after a while and a just jiggle the mouse to wake it up and keep working when I come back.

    At night I shut it down to refresh internal memory space (not a big deal for most but the stuff I do it's better).

    A note on batteries. I listened to a very interesting radio programme before about batteries (it was really fascinating). Batteries perform best and last longer if they operate between 20-80%. Having them full all the time or keep draining them to nothing is bad for the chemicals inside (why this is is really fascinating but probably out with the requirements of the post). 

    In short, it's better not to leave it plugged in, but don't let it run out completely. And the further bit is don't actually charge it to 100%, but don't stress that too much. This is the same for all lithium rechargeable batteries I think.

  • I’m sure there are tech people here who know more about this than I do, but I have always understood ‘sleep mode’ to be useful if you are going to be away from your computer for a short time (I don’t know exactly how short as the opinions I’ve heard range from a few minutes to a few hours). ‘Sleep mode’ uses very little electricity yet it allows you to resume working without going through all the palaver of switching the computer on and giving it time to reboot. If I’m working at my computer all day, I would allow it to ‘sleep’ while I take breaks but would shut it down before going to bed.

    ’Shut down’ is advisable if you are away from your computer for more than a few hours (again I don’t know how long that is. I would shut mine down at the end of the day or before if I’m not going to be working through the night). ‘Shut down’ means the computer is switched off so it isn’t using any electricity. It is important to ‘shut down’ a computer regularly (how often is that?) because it gives it time to perform disc clean ups, virus scans and update software. It also reduces wear and can prolong its lifespan.