turning off/turning on laptops

[stilton]

How often should laptops be turned off? I've had a few laptops in the past 10 years or so, and I've always turned them off at night (after being on usually all day, but hibernating when I wouldn't be using it for over an hour). I just got a new Sony VAIO and I've continued to do the same - I keep it on during the day but hibernate it when I'll be gone for a while, and then I shut it down at night right before I go to bed.

I'm not sure why, but I've noticed that my internet gets really slow by the middle of the day/early evening (and I'm pretty sure it's the laptop and not my cable internet connection since this has never happened on any of my other computers). I tried turning my laptop off and then on again yesterday and today, and doing that made it go back to running very fast both times. My question is though...is it ok to turn off/turn on a laptop that often (twice a day)? I'd really appreciate any advice.

[CharleyO]

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It would probably be better to turn it off when not in use as laptops build up heat since most of them have poor cooling properties.


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[DavidR]

Many years ago the general though was to leave systems on 24/7 and just let them go into standby (before hibernate) as start-up was one of the most stressful times for your system and I used to follow this practice.

This was back in my win98 days when the only time I shutdown was to avoid a low resources crash and then it was back on so the start-up was happening when components were warm.

Nowadays computers are better manufactured and as long as you don't switch off (but hibernate or go to standby) when not in use during the day and shutdown at night when there will be a prolonged period of inactivity. So this I feel would prolong the life of your system rather than shorten it and I think in the case of a laptop more so as when running fans will be running to cool it which also draws in dust, etc.

[stilton]

Thank you both very much for your replies. I guess now I'm just wondering if it's ok to turn my laptop on/off two times a day, one of those times being in the middle of the day when it seems to slow down (I'm referring to the speed of the internet). Or does anyone have any other suggestions for getting a laptop back to its usual speed instead of turning it off and on again? So far, turning it off and on again seems to be the only way to make it run faster. Thanks again. 

[DavidR]

Well I don't believe that prolonged periods with the laptop on would have any impact on connect/browsing speed.

Turning it off would restore any memory which had been used and you are starting from square one again, but I still feel any increase in speed isn't down to rebooting unless your system is so low on resources that it might effect browsing, which might be cpu/memory intensive.

What is your OS, CPU, RAM ?
What are you doing when this slow down occurs ?

Ensure that only essential programs run on boot, typically security programs, many programs when installed set themselves up to run on boot when they aren't essential. For example media players, they only need to run when you click on a media file.

[stilton]

Hmm...I don't know why I always have weird problems. I'm not very good with this computer lingo stuff, but I think OS means operating system? I have Windows Vista. This is a new Sony VAIO and it has 4 GB of RAM, which means it's supposed to be pretty fast, right? I don't think I have many "extras" installed on my laptop...I really only use it for the internet (I rarely download any videos or music or anything - I just basically e-mail and visit message boards/forums) and I use Word sometimes. So I'm confused. I have a cable internet connection, if that matters at all. The previous laptops I've had never seemed to slow down like this one, so it's strange. You probably don't have any magic answers for me, but that's ok - I really appreciate you just taking the time to try to help a computer dummy like me. 

P.S. Oh, and I don't know what CPU stands for!

[DavidR]

The CPU (Central Processing Unit) is the Processor Chip in your system, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPU.

But I believe for a new system and with 4GB RAM it should be well up to the task of general browsing.

What is your firewall ?

Have (or did) you another AV installed in this system (often comes as a trial with new systems), if so what was it and how did you get rid of it ?

[CharleyO]

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The CPU would most likely be made by either AMD or Intel.


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[stilton]

I just have the firewall that came with my computer, Windows Firewall. Should I be using something different/better? Window's new anti-virus program, One Care, was installed on my computer when I bought it. I came here to ask if it was ok to remove it and how to do so, and I was told I should uninstall it completely and then download avast, which is what I did. So I have avast home edition 4.8 and I also have anti-spyware (SUPERAntiSpyware). The avast On-Access Scanner is always on and I run a full scan (or whatever you call it!) once a week. I do a spyware scan right after. I have noticed though that on the days after I run the full scans in the morning, my laptop runs slower. So maybe something is up with my avast and/or spyware?

P.S. CharleyO was replying while I was writing this. Ok, I think my CPU is intel Centrino? That's what the sticker on my laptop says anyway!

[stilton]

Sorry to be annoying. But I just realized what might be causing the problem. I always have the Internet Explorer Phishing Filter on. Every time I click on something (like a link or one of my favorites), a little green bar at the bottom of my screen shows up. The link I click on doesn't open until the green bar has completed its "growth" (I don't know how else to explain it! ). I've noticed that when my laptop starts slowing down, it's that green bar that is moving slow. I just realized now what that green bar was (it shows the progress of the phishing filter). Should I try turning the phishing filter off? Is it ok not to use the phishing filter?

[DavidR]

Well I would certainly give it a try turning off the filter and see if that resolves it.

I would also suggest using another browser, either firefox or opera, both of which by all accounts are faster than IE. Not to mention they are both I feel more secure than IE, firefox 3.0.3 is my default comes with anti-phishing that doesn't appear to slow my system and I'm on dial-up.

If you aren't to adventurous in where you go on-line, don't click on links in unsolicited emails, etc. phishing isn't an absolutely must have (especially if it is having an adverse impact on your browsing) and common sense will give a level of protection.

I have never used One Care but some do feel it is heavy on resources. I use SuperAntiSpyware (the paid Pro version) but the free version doesn't provide resident protection (which one care does), so it is just on-demand.

[stilton]

I turned the phishing filter off and I think it's helping...things were starting to get slow as usual at this time of the day, but now they seem to be normal. So hopefully this will do the trick! No, I'm not very adventurous in where I go online, so I think I'll be ok without the filter.

Yeah, I know I should try a new browser...I've always just stuck with IE because I hate change. I did try google chrome for a while but it gave me a lot of problems. I just downloaded Firefox 3.0.3 like you recommended, so I'll try to make the change if I start having problems with IE again. And even if I don't have any more problems, maybe I'll be brave and slowly convert to Firefox!

Thank you SO much for all your help today, David. I really appreciate it.

[DavidR]

You're welcome.

Chrome really shouldn't have been released to the general public as I don't believe it was anyway near ready for prime time. It was a beta build that received much hype as if it were not a beta but a regular release. I knew that when I tried it and it lasted less than a day before it was uninstalled and I personally won't try it until it is a regular not beta or RC (Release Candidate, weird name) version.

[CharleyO]

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Hi stilton -

I only use IE7 for Windows updates and for email because Earthlink's web email program does not work exactly right in Opera.

Otherwise, I use Opera for everything else from browsing the web to forums such as this one to downloading whatever. Opera is for sure much faster than IE7.


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[stilton]

Thanks for the advice, CharleyO. I'll download Opera as well and see how I like it.