Laptop Questions & Inquiries

[Yah1]

Hello there, i just have a few questions for anyone that knows about laptops.
I have a Toshiba Windows 7, 2010-11.

1. How many years do laptops last without going bad nowadays.
2. What kind of things do i look for if it goes bad, does it freeze or slow down.
3. Is it possible to save your windows media songs to email, then copy to new laptop.
4. Does it hurt it to keep it idle during the day, or should i shut it down after every use.
5. How long is too long for laptops to be on.
6. Is it possible for a laptop to crash and never re-start.
7. Thank You.

The reason i'm asking, is because well..the last question basically.
Is there a possibility laptops crash and don't start again?

 

[Nick]

Hello there, i just have a few questions for anyone that knows about laptops.
I have a Toshiba Windows 7, 2010-11.

I'm not the "expert" on tech stuff as I once was, but I'll try to answer your questions.

1. How many years do laptops last without going bad nowadays.

Not sure, but if you make it past the warranty that's always a good sign. Products are made to die nowdays. I know businesses generally try and do a computer upgrade very 4 years. I'd say if you're getting that much out of your (presumably Microsoft) machine, then that's a good machine.

2. What kind of things do i look for if it goes bad, does it freeze or slow down.

Do a virus scan, and use a good paid virus software. Make sure you aren't running any more processes than necessary (check this by going into Task Manager, use the Processes tab). Get rid of any unnecessary software or data. Same with toolbars for web browsers. Regularly clean your temp folder and cache. Do regular disk defrags.

3. Is it possible to save your windows media songs to email, then copy to new laptop.

Emailing yourself your data is possible but not practical. Get a portable media device like a USB stick, CD-R (or RW) or a portable hard drive. Or just store your data in the cloud (eg iCloud, Dropbox, GoogleDocs, Skydrive).

4. Does it hurt it to keep it idle during the day, or should i shut it down after every use.
5. How long is too long for laptops to be on.

Not sure. I keep my laptop on for long hours. When I'm not using it I put it to sleep, but rarely shut it down, as I hate the fact that it's slow when it starts up. I'd say if it's not too much hassle, try and shut it down most nights, but it should be able to run for ages. Just try and make sure it doesn't overheat

6. Is it possible for a laptop to crash and never re-start.
7. Thank You.

The reason i'm asking, is because well..the last question basically.
Is there a possibility laptops crash and don't start again?

Anything is possible. Computers run on Murphy's Law.

 

[WIP]

Not sure, but if you make it past the warranty that's always a good sign. Products are made to die nowdays. I know businesses generally try and do a computer upgrade very 4 years. I'd say if you're getting that much out of your (presumably Microsoft) machine, then that's a good machine.

That seems to follow the pattern here however, I think it has more to do with the advancement in hardware than the durability of the laptops themselves. In other words, the application software often time outgrows the hardware. We run into this often with our PLC, HMI, and other application software that outgrows the hardware forcing our IT group to upgrade the laptops.

I work in our aftermarket services group and for me, we have to keep old hardware around to work with old software and new hardware to work with the newer software. Just last week I had to carry two laptops with me on a visit to our customer's site. One laptop only had a DOS operating system because the application software for some of the components on their machinery was not compatible with Windows XP.

For the moment I am not able to upgrade my laptop to Windows7 because too much of our application software is not compatible but most of it works with XP yet.

 

[WIP]

Not sure. I keep my laptop on for long hours. When I'm not using it I put it to sleep, but rarely shut it down, as I hate the fact that it's slow when it starts up. I'd say if it's not too much hassle, try and shut it down most nights, but it should be able to run for ages. Just try and make sure it doesn't overheat

I also let ours run 24/7 however, research I have done convinces me that we should shut down and reboot our computers from time to time. Apparently this helps clear out some application cache files or something like that. One thing to be careful about is to be sure to open them up once in a while to clean out dust so it can cool properly. Heat is a bad thing and will significantly reduce the life of the equipment.

 

[Nick]

That seems to follow the pattern here however, I think it has more to do with the advancement in hardware than the durability of the laptops themselves. In other words, the application software often time outgrows the hardware. We run into this often with our PLC, HMI, and other application software that outgrows the hardware forcing our IT group to upgrade the laptops.

I work in our aftermarket services group and for me, we have to keep old hardware around to work with old software and new hardware to work with the newer software. Just last week I had to carry two laptops with me on a visit to our customer's site. One laptop only had a DOS operating system because the application software for some of the components on their machinery was not compatible with Windows XP.

For the moment I am not able to upgrade my laptop to Windows7 because too much of our application software is not compatible but most of it works with XP yet.

That's true. Most machines should last longer than that, but when you replace it may depend on the software requirements you need and whether or not upgrading hardware such as RAM and CPU is possible.

 

[Yah1]

This helps a lot, ty. I'm gonna try the USB stick, what's the longevity on them.
How many gigabytes do i need to fit 65-70 songs. What's the most GB/minutes a stick can hold.

TY again, very helpful.

 

[jasoncran]

6, yes, twice that has happened to me,

 

[The Unbeliever]

1. How many years do laptops last without going bad nowadays.
Electronics do not have an expiration date. Operational longevity is dependent upon the durability of the build and usage. I have a Toshiba Satellite A215-S4807 from 2007 and it still functions fine.
2. What kind of things do i look for if it goes bad, does it freeze or slow down.
Going bad means something doesn't work. A slow down doesn't mean it is going bad, just that something is stressing the capacity of the device. You have two potential choices, either reduce the workload or else increase the capacity. The latter can be accomplished by modifying the software being used while the latter is a hardware issue and may not be possible depending upon the configuration of the device. RAM is usually the easiest fix, but you may already have enough and be experiencing a bottleneck somewhere else.
3. Is it possible to save your windows media songs to email, then copy to new laptop.
Only if the storage capacity of your email is sufficient and you have the patience to upload and then redownload all of that data. A better solution would be to use either a disk (DVD since CD's won't hold much), a usb memory stick, an external hard drive, or some cloud based storage like dropbox.
4. Does it hurt it to keep it idle during the day, or should i shut it down after every use.
It shouldn't have too much of an impact, but I still like to set my computers to automatically suspend to ram, since this uses less energy, gives moving parts a break, but has the advantages of being able to quickly start up again should I wish to use the computer again.
5. How long is too long for laptops to be on.
There is no time limit. You will have to periodically restart it if you want certain updates to take place, but other than that there is no limit.
6. Is it possible for a laptop to crash and never re-start.
Of course. Many things are possible.
7. Thank You.
You are welcome.

 

[tim-from-pa]

2. What kind of things do i look for if it goes bad, does it freeze or slow down.

It depends on what hardware went bad. Different failures will cause different symptoms just as a human body will display different symptoms when something fails --- it has to go on a case-by-case basis.

If you are worried about freezing, slow-ups or crashes, that can be software related, and if you have Windows 7 can do that since it's buggy. I use Linux Ubuntu 12.04 on my laptop (and old 2006 Inspiron from my son). I destroyed the Microsoft off of it and loaded the linux instead and it runs as fast as day one --- they never slow up, or get viruses. If there's an unlikely circumstance they they freeze, it reboots quickly and picks up where it left off. They quickly patch such things so usually any "problem" I have spontaneously disappears after an update or two.

I can't help you with the Microsoft, however; the OS did strange things for as long as I can remember about it for over 20 years no matter what they come out with. It slows up over time even without a virus so I gave up on it.

 

[The Unbeliever]

I use Linux Ubuntu 12.04 on my laptop (and old 2006 Inspiron from my son).

This is a good suggestion, especially for older devices. I use Xubuntu myself.

 

[Yah1]

I figured out how to use the USB stick and how much i can store,
ty again for responses. me happy.

 

[Pastor Dave]

I have been a technician for 30 years, just so you know y qualifications, so you know whether or not to trust my answers. <lol!>

Hello there, i just have a few questions for anyone that knows about laptops.
I have a Toshiba Windows 7, 2010-11.

Okay.

1. How many years do laptops last without going bad nowadays.

These days, typically about as long as a desktop PC, although it depends on the quality of both machines, of course.

But there are "desktop quality & performance" laptops out there now. They are more expensive, of course.

2. What kind of things do i look for if it goes bad, does it freeze or slow down.

Yes.

If it's freezing, it may be overheating (although rebooting is likely). A big problem that laptops have, is that because they tend to run so hot, since everything is packed right in there and air flow isn't always what it could be, the compound used between the CPU and the heat sink to transfer heat up off of the CPU chip dries out over time, which means it starts to run hotter and hotter as more time goes by. You can solve this with a trip to your local Radio Shack to pick up a tube ($2-$3), take apart the laptop and put some more (not too much) between the heat sink and the CPU. Then watch the temp drop from what it was while running it.

Remember that laptops are just really small PC's, with the components all packed in together, everything on top of/right next to something else. They are not some "completely different" computing device and so, they are prone to the same problems as any PC. The only difference is that with laptops, you're bound to see more issues crop up related to heat. And that does not mean only that it might be running too hot, but that devices inside it may be dying, due to this heat.

There's a simple rule with computers. Any computers, including any electronic devices you can think of. And that rule is that;

HEAT KILLS!!!

And in laptops, you have to be especially careful!!!

Therefore, for example, your RAM may die, due to heat. Your CPU could "melt", due to heat. Your hard drive may die, due to heat.

There is a reason that you're constantly seeing systems advertised with great cooling (especially with today's high performance components).

3. Is it possible to save your windows media songs to email, then copy to new laptop.

Not a good idea to try it that way (if you mean actual MP3 files), because typically, ISP's only allow for up to a certain size attachment. And while one or two songs may make it, how many emails do you want to create with attachments? You'll be there for like 8 years doing it! <lol>

I would suggest a USB stick back up. Or burn them to a blank CD, or DVD if you have a really large amount of them. You don't have to create a music disc. You just burn them as you would any other data and they'll play fine and then you can just copy them onto your new setup.

Or if you want to, you could create a DropBox account and transfer them up there and then you can access them from any computer, anywhere. Myself, I too advantage of it when they were offering free 50GB (yes, I said 50GB) accounts to spread the word and compete with the others earlier this year. But even if you have to pay for an account big enough, it's worth it. And there's other cloud drive services out there. Just check the capacity they offer for free and for pay accounts.

4. Does it hurt it to keep it idle during the day, or should i shut it down after every use.

With a laptop, you can just set it up in the Power Settings, to go to "sleep" after say, 30 min. I personally would not allow it to write to disc and hibernate, as they don't always wake up properly. But if you set it to go to sleep, it will power down 99% of what's running and you can just tap the space bar or something to wake it up. Just make sure that if you do lots of downloads, that you look for a setting in that specific software to prevent it from going to sleep in the middle of your downloads and also make sure to exit that specific software once your downloads are complete, so that it will rest again.

These days, you don't have to worry as much, especially if you know that you are not having overheating issues, which shouldn't be a problem for a few years anyway, if at all with your machine.

I leave min on all the time and make the screen turn off after 15 min let it go to sleep after 30 min, setting the HD, etc. for the same amount of time, just in case.

Now what I said above relates to a laptop with the lid open (I leave mine open). But with laptops, they're usually set to go to sleep immediately once you close the lid (check your Power settings in the Control Panel).

Personally, I only actually power mine down completely about once a month. I do this, just so it will. As weird as it sounds,especially with desktop PC's, sometimes, if you never power the system off and leave it running for like a year or something and then go to power it off and then on again, it won't power up again. I'm not saying that will be the case every time, but I have replaced a number of Power Supplies over the years because of this. The machine ran fine for however long and then one day, they shut it down to move it or something and it would not come up again. It actually does happen.

5. How long is too long for laptops to be on.

If you mean with the laptop constantly running and performing tasks, then it would depend on the laptop. But I have had them running for days at a time on many occasions, without any problems at all! I am not recommending this. I would never recommend this, even for desktop PC's, because I do not know that the user has their setup cooling properly. But I would not worry about letting it run overnight or something assuming that you are cooling it properly.

*** And remember that not blocking the fans & exhausts and keeping the area immediately around any computer, especially a laptop clear, is crucial!!! ***

Again, as long as you are not having overheating issues, which you would know are probably the culprit anyway, if your setup is regularly rebooting, or freezing up on you.

Typically, overheating reboots it and bad RAM (possibly caused by heat) freezes it. But each can have the other effect.

And if you find that your system reboots, or sometimes, yes, freezes and then you go to turn it off for a minute (at least 30 secs to let the charge in RAM dissipate) and then on again and then it either reboots again during bootup, or it shows a black screen, or the BSOD, etc., then you probably do have a heat issue.

But if it appears to run normally and you don't have those problems, then don't worry about it. You will not kill it by running it, as long as it is properly cooling (see warning further up).

I would, if your Power Settings allow, use an aggressive cooling setup. And in battery mode, you don't have to be as aggressive, but you would also limit your CPU's performance to save battery, which would make it run cooler anyway.

And make sure in both CMOS and in your Windows Power Settings in your Control Panel, to set it to "Wake On LAN". This way, if you wish to access your laptop remotely from another computer, or like I do, from my Tablet (see my signature below), then you can wake it up by sending a signal to your RJ45 connection (you must use RJ45 for that purpose, but if you leave it just sitting on a desk, then why not use RJ45, as it is more reliable anyway). You should also check the Network Adapter Settings for the RJ45 adapter (network adapter) in Device Mangler, to make sure that Wake On LAN is enabled there too.

6. Is it possible for a laptop to crash and never re-start.

It is possible for YOU to crash and never restart!

So the answer is "YES!", just like any other computer.

7. Thank You.

You're welcome. It was my pressure. Er... I mean, my pleasure. Yea, that's it! My pleasure! Yea, that's the ticket, yea! <lol!>

The reason i'm asking, is because well..the last question basically.
Is there a possibility laptops crash and don't start again?

Like I said, yes. Get yourself a decent laptop. HP's aren't too bad these days and their support is top notch! I mean as far as covering the system, should something go wrong with it. Lenovo makes a decent one too, although personally, I would go through IBM to buy a laptop instead (IBM sold their laptop division to Lenovo, but you can still buy laptops direct from IBM and they are superior when it comes to reliability and warranty coverage from IBM!).

Dell is a nice laptop, although pricey. And Toshiba doesn't make a bad one. Just make sure to get some bang for your buck!

Hope this helped and if you have any other questions, please feel free to ask. It's no problem at all.

 

[Pastor Dave]

This helps a lot, ty. I'm gonna try the USB stick, what's the longevity on them.
How many gigabytes do i need to fit 65-70 songs. What's the most GB/minutes a stick can hold.

TY again, very helpful.

You can fit a ton of songs on a USB stick of even a smaller capacity!

The rule is to figure 5MB per song, which is usually a bit generous, but safe.

You should be able to fit roughly 200 songs per Gigabyte.

However, the rule with computing is to always buy a lot more than you think you'll need! So check the prices on 32GB sticks, for example. You can get them on sale sometimes for like $20-$30. About $1 p/GB is a pretty good deal, although unless they're running a sale, you probably won't see that at a retail store. Sometimes places like Staples and Office Depot do run these sales though.

Btw, the reason that I said 32GB and not 64GB, is that in many cases, you have to use a different file system (such as NTFS) over 32GB and not all devices will read them properly when you do. In most cases, it'll be just fine, but I believe in *never* having a problem and almost everything out there will read FAT32.

And to cut off the techies ahead of time, yes, you can "make" a 64GB stick format to FAT32. It can be done. But not every device will be able to read it okay and some devices, like some Tablets, will not even read sticks over 32GB, whatever the file format (although that can be manipulated too, but why go thru all of that and take the chance, when you can be sure about it?).

I would recommend getting a couple of them from Amazon. You can usually find the "Sandisk" USB sticks, which are pretty reliable and inexpensive and if you spend $25 or more through Amazon selling it to you (instead of a 3rd party thru them), then you can usually get free "Super Saver Shipping". But you have to make sure that you check that off during the checkout process. Even though something is eligible for it, it still does not check that off automagically. You have to check it off manually during checkout.

If you find Kingston on sale for that money, even better! But I and my friends and my customers have always had (about 98% of the time) good luck with the Sandisk product.

And please be warned, I would *NOT* go the eBay route, as many people have gotten phoney sticks thru eBay, that are not what they're advertised to be!

The rule is; "Don't let your cheap rule your buy!".

 

[Knotical]

To build on what others have said, it is always a good idea to have a backup of your important stuff. One thing you can do is partition your hard drive. On my home PC I have partitioned my main hard drive into two drives. One has all my programs, the other has all my data. This is so if my OS crashes I can just reformat the side that had the OS and nothing happens to the side with my data. Also, it is a good idea to get an external drive to store really important things, like copies of important documents and the like. You can actually take the external drive, after you have copied what you want to it, and put it in a firesafe. This way all you need to do if you have a catastrophe is pull out your external drive, plug it into any computer and pull up your documents.

 

[Pastor Dave]

To build on what others have said, it is always a good idea to have a backup of your important stuff. One thing you can do is partition your hard drive. On my home PC I have partitioned my main hard drive into two drives. One has all my programs, the other has all my data. This is so if my OS crashes I can just reformat the side that had the OS and nothing happens to the side with my data.

With all due respect, I disagree. It is never a good idea anymore to partition drives. Your data side grows and then what? You end up repartitioning/resizing partitions.

Especially with a desktop PC. Internal drives are so cheap now! You can just get a second drive!

If you're concerned about crashes, pick up a copy of Rollback Rx. It will put you right back where you were before the crash.

Also, if you end up with a virus that you can't remove, you can roll back to before you had the virus.

Bear in mind, this is not a program that cleans the virus. It rolls back in time to before the virus existed!

Also, if you live in a household where you have other people who love to get on your computer anc install games and toolbars etc., that mess up your system (and you know they don't care), this software will allow you to set it so that every time it boots, it puts the system back the way you had it. Talk about frustrating the kids and those who like to mess your system up! That's teach them to treat it like it theirs and you're just the clean up guy!

Oh and btw, it does these "magic feats" in about 20 seconds! Seriously!

And no, I don't work for, nor advertise for them.

 

[Knotical]

With all due respect, I disagree. It is never a good idea anymore to partition drives. Your data side grows and then what? You end up repartitioning/resizing partitions.

Especially with a desktop PC. Internal drives are so cheap now! You can just get a second drive!

If you're concerned about crashes, pick up a copy of Rollback Rx. It will put you right back where you were before the crash.

Also, if you end up with a virus that you can't remove, you can roll back to before you had the virus.

Bear in mind, this is not a program that cleans the virus. It rolls back in time to before the virus existed!

Also, if you live in a household where you have other people who love to get on your computer anc install games and toolbars etc., that mess up your system (and you know they don't care), this software will allow you to set it so that every time it boots, it puts the system back the way you had it. Talk about frustrating the kids and those who like to mess your system up! That's teach them to treat it like it theirs and you're just the clean up guy!

Oh and btw, it does these "magic feats" in about 20 seconds! Seriously!

And no, I don't work for, nor advertise for them.

With the size of the hard drive I have as my primary I do not foresee having an issue with space anytime soon. I also have a second physical drive that I have dubbed my media drive which stores all of our music and movies. It is a 2T and is only about half full at this point.

 

[Yah1]

To build on what others have said, it is always a good idea to have a backup of your important stuff. One thing you can do is partition your hard drive. On my home PC I have partitioned my main hard drive into two drives. One has all my programs, the other has all my data. This is so if my OS crashes I can just reformat the side that had the OS and nothing happens to the side with my data. Also, it is a good idea to get an external drive to store really important things, like copies of important documents and the like. You can actually take the external drive, after you have copied what you want to it, and put it in a firesafe. This way all you need to do if you have a catastrophe is pull out your external drive, plug it into any computer and pull up your documents.

Good idea, or what i do is just save all my important work on notepad icons. Then copy the info to my icons from home to work. Not many people have the option to back their stuff up at a work PC though. Pastor Dave, TY for the awesome responses, all of you. This is a very helpful thread.