To shut down or to sleep?

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Guest

I have problems with my CD/DVD driver not loading when the computer awakes.
I can't use the drive unless I restart my computer first. Windoes recommends
not to shut down, but to have the computer sleep instead. However, a tech at
HP told me to shut down the computer when not in use for a long period of
time, such as overnight, etc. So, what do I *really* do? Will there be a
service pack offered to correct this problem? Has anyone else had this
problem? If so, how did you correct it?
 
Sounds like a possible driver issue with your DVD drive. When I first got
my Vista machine I kept losing the sound if I resumed from Sleep mode.
Updating the drivers sorted this out.

The only real reason I can think of (apart from the problem you're having)
to shut down rather than sleep is that Sleep still uses a small amount of
power to keep the RAM alive. If you lose power while in Sleep mode it
automatically becomes a Hibernate state so no data will be lost. Even if
you shut down, the PSU will still be drawing a small amount of current
unless you physically switch it off, either at the wall socket or on the
back of the PC.

I tend to shut down (or at least reboot) about once a week; other than that
I use Sleep. If it's running a virus scan or backing up, I just walk away -
it automatically sleeps after about an hour of inactivity.

On the other hand, if you can't get your DVD drive sorted out, shutdown is
probably the best option for you. Check out the manufacturer's web site for
updated drivers and/or firmware. Another problem I had was that my drive
wasn't recognised by Windows as a burner because Windows had incorrectly
installed SCSI drivers instead if IDE. Have a good look in the device
manager - make sure the drive is actually what Windows thinks it is.
 
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