Windows Vista

[Terry Fox]

There's probably a couple things still alive in the laptop.  First of all,
there is a real-time-clock in there somewhere, keeping track of the time of
day even when the main computer is off.  This should still run even woith
the main battery pulled, however,as they usually run off the BIOS/CMOS
battery.

Also, most laptops have pushbuttons for power switches.  There's probably
some very low-power CMOS power control logic running to monitor the power
pushbutton, and some other housekeeping chores.  If the laptop has power-up
on telephone ring, or power-up on LAN event (as with many desktops), then
there needs to be enough smarts running even during laptop "OFF" to properly
detect those events.

It is interesting that there is enough RF being generated by such low-power
devices, however.

Of course, it could also be tha the laptop is still actually running with
the power turned off.  Windows has gotten so bad in power-cycling (long
delays in powering up or down), that some laptops aren't really OFF.  They
are just in hibernate mode.  If they stay in hibernate long enough, I think
they do eventually flush the RAM and power-down.  This is Microsoft's
answer - don't fix the problem, just throw another patch/band-aid over it.

Just a couple of guesses.
Terry


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard O'Neill" <richardoneill at earthlink.net>
To: <tacos at amrad.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2008 2:47 PM
Subject: Windows Vista


> Greetings,
>  I have a question for the group. While listening to a pocket AM band
radio I happened to walk past my new ACER WiFi laptop (preloaded with VISTA)
and heard a loud buzz on the radio. This was a surprise since the laptop was
powered off and power cord disconnected.
>
>  After removing the computer battery the noise went away. Does anyone have
any idea what battery power is being expended for? What's this machine up
to? Hmmm ... perhaps something secretly nefarious for Microsoft ... or the
Chinese government?
> Please don't tell me it's reporting to Homeland Security.
>
>  The subject is more than academic since my laptop is often unused for
weeks to months at a time and I wouldn't want to find a drained battery the
next time I took it on a trip.
>
> Richard O'Neill
>
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