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.

    专栏作家莫博士就有关电脑和其他电子设备的常见技术问题答读者问。

    问：我的电脑开机时间特别长。因此当我使用完电脑后，我就让它处于休眠或待机状态，这样下次开机就能节约不少时间。我这样做是不是对电脑有害？

    答：这样做不会给电脑带来任何损害。实际上，许多用户都将这两种技巧之一作为他们的标准做法。待机或休眠状态会让你更迅速地重新投入工作，因为电脑并未完全关机。这样做最大的一个不利之处是，有时电脑不会从这种状态下正常“唤醒”，你需要完全重新启动电脑。因此，我建议你在待机操作前认真保存好所有文件。

    根据我的经验，在休眠状态下出现这种小问题的可能性不大，而且即使电脑完全关机，它也会首先将电脑状态记录保存在硬盘上。

    当电脑重新启动时，所有未关闭的程序和文件都会恢复到原来的状态。不利之处是，从休眠状态转入正常运行状态所需的时间要比使用待机状态长一些。而且，尽管这比待机状态更可靠，我仍然建议每次在采用休眠状态前都保存所有的工作。

    问：我正在考虑购买一台MacBook Pro笔记本电脑。我知道它具有货真价实的自动Wi-Fi探测系统。但如果我也在使用Verizon或Sprint的无线调制解调器卡上网，二者之间是否会冲突呢？

    广告答：不会。Mac操作系统会单独区分两种连接装置，各自采用自身的用户接口。如果这两种接口你都有，它会用任何一种进行探测和连接。

    问：我对具有LED显示器和SSD硬盘的笔记本电脑很感兴趣。你认为这类配件的价格在今后三个月里是否会大幅下跌？

    答：采用发光二极管(LED)的显示器上市已有一段时间，对通常采用这类显示器的高端笔记本电脑而言，这基本不是一个影响购买决策的主要因素了。但固态硬盘(SSD)的确是新生事物，在高端笔记本的价格中仍可能占很大比例。但尽管SSD的价格将会下降，我还是怀疑能否在短短三个月的时间里“大幅”下跌。