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.<\/p>\n
See? I didn’t need to hide inside the fridge to find out.<\/p>\n
Another eternal question: Will the computer do an update at 2:00 AM when it’s turned off?
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\nThat question was recently asked of me by reader Steve, who posited:<\/p>\n
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?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The answer is Yes<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n
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<\/em>.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
At midnight, I have the virus scan scheduled.<\/p>\n
At 1:00 AM, the computer backs itself up.<\/p>\n