Q: My computer takes forever to start up. I am tempted to just put it into hibernation or standby when I am done with it for the day, so that starting up will be quicker. Would I be damaging my computer by doing so?

    A: Doing this shouldn't cause any damage to your computer. For many users, one of these two techniques is standard procedure, in fact. Standby, or sleep, mode, gets you back to work more quickly, because the machine never completely shuts down. Its biggest downside is that, on occasion, computers fail to 'awaken' properly from this mode, and you have to do a full restart. So I would advise that you carefully save any work before initiating standby.

    In my experience, this kind of glitch is less likely to happen when you use hibernation, in which the computer does completely shut down, but first saves to the hard disk a record of the state of the machine.

    When the computer restarts, all open programs and files are restored just as you left them. The downside here is that getting going again using hibernation takes longer than it does using standby mode. And, even though it's more reliable than standby mode, I'd still advise saving all your work each time before using hibernation.

    Q: I am thinking about switching to a MacBook Pro laptop. I understand that it has a real good automatic Wi-Fi detection system. But if I also use a cellular modem card from Verizon or Sprint to access the Internet, won't the two conflict?

    A: No. The Mac operating system treats the two kinds of connections separately, each with its own user interface. It can detect and connect either one, if you have coverage of both types.

    Q: I'm interested in getting a laptop with LED display and SSD drive. Do you think the price for those components will fall drastically in three months' time?

    A: Displays that use light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been around for awhile and don't tend to be a major deal breaker in the higher-end laptops in which they are commonly offered. But solid state drives (SSDs), which replace hard disks with memory chips to store your data, are much rarer and newer and still can add significantly to the price of even a high-end laptop. I am no expert in price forecasting, but, while SSD prices will fall, I doubt they will drop 'drastically' in as little as three months.

    專欄作家莫博士就有關電腦和其他電子設備的常見技術問題答讀者問。

    問：我的電腦開機時間特別長。因此當我使用完電腦后，我就讓它處于休眠或待機狀態，這樣下次開機就能節約不少時間。我這樣做是不是對電腦有害？

    答：這樣做不會給電腦帶來任何損害。實際上，許多用戶都將這兩種技巧之一作為他們的標準做法。待機或休眠狀態會讓你更迅速地重新投入工作，因為電腦并未完全關機。這樣做最大的一個不利之處是，有時電腦不會從這種狀態下正常“喚醒”，你需要完全重新啟動電腦。因此，我建議你在待機操作前認真保存好所有文件。

    根據我的經驗，在休眠狀態下出現這種小問題的可能性不大，而且即使電腦完全關機，它也會首先將電腦狀態記錄保存在硬盤上。

    當電腦重新啟動時，所有未關閉的程序和文件都會恢復到原來的狀態。不利之處是，從休眠狀態轉入正常運行狀態所需的時間要比使用待機狀態長一些。而且，盡管這比待機狀態更可靠，我仍然建議每次在采用休眠狀態前都保存所有的工作。

    問：我正在考慮購買一臺MacBook Pro筆記本電腦。我知道它具有貨真價實的自動Wi-Fi探測系統。但如果我也在使用Verizon或Sprint的無線調制解調器卡上網，二者之間是否會沖突呢？

    廣告答：不會。Mac操作系統會單獨區分兩種連接裝置，各自采用自身的用戶接口。如果這兩種接口你都有，它會用任何一種進行探測和連接。

    問：我對具有LED顯示器和SSD硬盤的筆記本電腦很感興趣。你認為這類配件的價格在今后三個月里是否會大幅下跌？

    答：采用發光二極管(LED)的顯示器上市已有一段時間，對通常采用這類顯示器的高端筆記本電腦而言，這基本不是一個影響購買決策的主要因素了。但固態硬盤(SSD)的確是新生事物，在高端筆記本的價格中仍可能占很大比例。但盡管SSD的價格將會下降，我還是懷疑能否在短短三個月的時間里“大幅”下跌。