Is it possible to run a (Dell) Windows laptop with the lid closed?

October 24, 2005 1:10 PM

Is it possible to run a (Dell) Windows laptop with the lid closed? I just need it to serve network connections (IIS, RDC).
posted by mkultra to Computers & Internet (10 answers total)

Best answer: Yes. Just tell windows (Power control panel) to "do nothing" when you close the lid.
posted by rxrfrx at 1:14 PM on October 24, 2005

I (accidentally) made this happen by breaking off the little pin that lets it know the lid's been closed. Used it like that for a year with no troubles, and actually came to prefer it.
posted by gleuschk at 1:17 PM on October 24, 2005

Just set Windows not to sleep when you close the lid in the Advanced tab of the Power Options control panel. The laptop may run hot, though. When I leave my Inspiron 8600 running overnight with the lid closed it feels a bit warm when getting back to it.
posted by zsazsa at 1:18 PM on October 24, 2005

Please, please, if you do this, don't lock the laptop in a filing cabinet overnight. It will run hot, the heat will cause errors, and tech support will laugh at you when you call to complain.
posted by restless_nomad at 1:31 PM on October 24, 2005

Yes, it does get hot. Don't do it all the time.
posted by k8t at 1:43 PM on October 24, 2005

if you're concerned about overheating, consider picking up a laptop cooling pad, like these
posted by mcsweetie at 1:47 PM on October 24, 2005

The beefier Dell laptops are pretty potent... I have an Inspiron 9300, which is clunky and huge, but very fast. A 2Ghz Pentium-M with a gig of RAM and a 7200RPM IDE drive will outperform many desktops. Would be more than adequate for a low-volume IIS server.

As long as it's not enclosed, I wouldn't worry about heat on the 9300... the fan runs all the time. I probably wouldn't want to leave it running for weeks on end, simply because I'd worry that the fan would give out -- they're usually not built to the same spec that desktop fans are. But for short deployments, I'd use my 9300 as an IIS server without a second thought.
posted by Malor at 2:54 PM on October 24, 2005

Response by poster: Thanks for your responses. It's running IIS just for me and my personal instance of a web app. I actually hate the thing- I'm a Mac guy at heart, so I'd rather just stick it in a corner, mount an SMB share, and use BBEdit, and just use RDC to check stuff in and out of VSS.

The only hitch for me on the Control Panel is that I'd kind of like it to be "one-off" behavior- normally sleep on close, but this time stay on when I close the lid. Is there anything that can do that without some VB hoohah?
posted by mkultra at 5:31 PM on October 24, 2005

I think this may be the best scenario you'll get:

Tell Windows to "do nothing" on lid close
When you do want it to go to standby, do it manually: click Start->Shutdown->StandBy
posted by maelanchai at 7:50 PM on October 24, 2005

I've got a fairly old Dell that I'd like to keep closed, and have been having it open all this time until I saw this question just now and found how to disable the sleep mode (thanks!) but is there a way to turn the machine on without opening it? Not a big fan of standby. Dell Latitude 366mhz.
posted by vanoakenfold at 8:40 AM on October 25, 2005