It’s one of the eternal questions: Does the refrigerator light stay on when you close the refrigerator door? The answer is, “No,” which I learned when I was 8-years-old because (wait for it) I found the secret button that turns the light on and off, which was controlled by the door.
See? I didn’t need to hide inside the fridge to find out.
Another eternal question: Will the computer do an update at 2:00 AM when it’s turned off?
That question was recently asked of me by reader Steve, who posited:
My PC is set to Auto Updates every day at 3:00AM. Does it have to be on, and on-line to recieve an update?
The answer is Yes to both questions: You computer must be on and it must be connected to the Internet at 3:00 AM for an update to be downloaded and installed. If not, then Windows will check the next time you turn the thing on, and then download and install the update.
No computer that I know of can automatically turn itself on. The computers that do aren’t really off in the first place. No, those computers are in sleep mode or the Windows 7 variation, which is called Hybrid Sleep.
A computer that’s in sleep mode (or whatever Windows 7 deems to call it) will rouse itself for scheduled activities, such as updates, backups, and virus scans.
I have my computer (like Steve’s) configured so that it does certain activities in the small hours when I’m asleep or passed out from drinking too much.
At midnight, I have the virus scan scheduled.
At 1:00 AM, the computer backs itself up.
At 3:00 AM, the computer checks for any Windows updates. In fact, if you ever find the Wambooli PorchCam offline in the morning, it’s probably because of a Windows update that forced the computer to restart. (Usually on Wednesday mornings.) I have to log back into Windows so that the Porchcam software gets back up and runs.
When the computer is turned off, none of these activities take place.
If you’ve missed a virus scan or backup, the program will alert you. For the Windows Backup, a new backup is started the moment you log into your computer. For Windows Update, the update is downloaded and installed as well.
The problem with postponing those events is that such activity does slow down your computer.
I remember my son being very upset because the virus scan on his computer would take place at 3:00 in the afternoon, which happens to be when he’s playing Call of Duty online.
Come to think of it, he plays Call of Duty all the time. So I had the virus scan re-scheduled for 7:00 AM when he’s passed out from playing Call of Duty all night.
So to answer the eternal PC question: Yes, the computer must be on or at least in sleep mode (not hibernation) for a scheduled activity to take place.
