kao@csli.Stanford.EDU (Imin Kao) (06/10/90)
I was told by someone that the electronic equipment, such as computers, should not be turned off and on too often. Therefore, I am wondering whether it is a good idea to shutdown Mac II or Mac IIci after I am done with it. Are there any reasons why the shutdown operation and reboot key exist? Does this mean that shutdown/reboot is encouraged? Any reasons why it should be shutdown (or shouldn't be) from the system standpoint? --Imin Kao
dhiman@motcid.UUCP (Ravinder Dhiman) (06/12/90)
kao@csli.Stanford.EDU (Imin Kao) writes: >I was told by someone that the electronic equipment, such as >computers, should not be turned off and on too often. Therefore, I am >wondering whether it is a good idea to shutdown Mac II or Mac IIci >after I am done with it. Are there any reasons why the shutdown >operation and reboot key exist? Does this mean that shutdown/reboot >is encouraged? Any reasons why it should be shutdown (or shouldn't >be) from the system standpoint? >--Imin Kao Your first statement is approximately correct. Everytime you apply/remove power to/from electronic equipment, its components experience energy surges (voltage/current transients), which causes stress to the components. Whether you should turn your computer off depends on how many times you use it during the day and the surrounding enviornment. If you use use your computer at different times during any given day, spare your machine the trauma and leave it on (for the day). On the other hand, if you only use it once during the day, you can shut it off. What I have described in the last couple of sentances is not some hard and fast rule by the way, it is just the policy I use on my machine at home (MSDOS platform). There is another good argument for leaving the machine on if you know it will receive use numerous times over a 24 hour period. Every time the hard drive in your machine receives power, it "spins up" to its operating speed (about 3600 Revs. per Minute, I beleive); once there the disk platters act like gyroscopes and spin steadily, but there is a short period of time during which it is still coming up to its operational speed. During this period of time, the platters may be somewhat unstable, causing some small amount of stress (and wear and tear) on the mechanisms holding the disk platters. The same goes for the disk spinning down. I realize that the mechanisms holding the platters are extremely accurate, but they are still subject to wear and tear, as are all mechanical components. As to your mention of the shutdown key, if part of its functionality is to park the disks heads away from the data areas on the disk, use it. For those of you who are Mac users out there, I'm not familiar with this key as I'm only a DOS machine user. As for your last question, the Unix operating system that from the software standpoint would have any problems with shutdowns without being warned about it first. Last item, I'm kind of unfamiliar with nn, so please excuse any errors I make with respect to this reply and also, the above statements are MY opinions and mine alone. Ravi Dhiman Motorola Cellular Arlington Heights, IL
ostroff@Oswego.EDU (Boyd Ostroff) (06/13/90)
In article <14026@csli.Stanford.EDU> kao@csli.stanford.edu (Imin Kao) writes: >I was told by someone that the electronic equipment, such as >computers, should not be turned off and on too often. Therefore, I am >wondering whether it is a good idea to shutdown Mac II or Mac IIci >after I am done with it. The manual which came with my IIcx (and appears to be a new "generic" Mac manual) states that you should not shut your computer off unless you don't plan to use it for awhile. The stress of powering up the components does more damage than just leaving them on, it says. See... you actually can learn something from reading the manuals (RTFM :-) ! ||| Boyd Ostroff - Tech Director - Dept of Theatre - SUNY Oswego ||| Sys Admin - "The CallBoard" - (315) 947-6414 - 1200/2400 baud ||| ostroff@oswego.oswego.edu - cboard!ostroff@oswego.oswego.edu