Logging out when closing macbook- a must?

I'm wondering if there's anyway to close my macbook's screen without automatically logging off. I'm new to the world of Macs, so if its an option in the preferences, I've missed it.

Carrying around the book with the screen half open is a hassle, when I want to keep the book running with downloads and such continuing.

Thanks, y'all.


-Ramen.

noty sure how to help ya but mine doesnt log me out when I close it, so there must be a way

I dont get logged off either but im pretty sure i cannot continue downloading

i think he means without putting the book to sleep

The Mac just goes to sleep when you close it. I don't know of a way to avoid it. This has been asked before, but I'm not sure what the response was. I think it can only be closed and still operate if the DVI port is used to connect an external display.

I assume you mean preventing it going to sleep and logging off the network. This has been answered before but the search isn't bringing much back ...

One thing you could try is a little shareware utility called SleepLess (http://macupdate.com/info.php/id/10564) that will prevent sleep on lid closure. Just set it to keep the macbook awake when you close the lid and it should be fine. Note that to put the system to sleep you'll have to use the apple menu -> sleep option instead.

i think the sleepless software is supposed to not be very good for you machine. so use it at your own risk.

where did you hear about it not being good for the machine? I've been searching but can't find anything negative about it particularly.

It wasn't recommended to use it on iBooks as they dissipated a lot of heat through the keyboard area. Running it closed could cause the screen to warp.

The top case of the macbook doesn't feel as warm though, and since apple officially enables it to be run like this (there's a support document on how to run it closed with external peripherals connected) it should be alright.

well supposedly running the computer with the lid closed and display sleep disabled can lead to significant heat problems (on top of normal macbook heat problems) and possibly damage your mac (notice i said possibly, not will). i wouldn't do anything extremely processor intensive (dvd encoding and the like) while using sleepless.

ok, I misunderstood - I thought you had heard something about the SleepLess software specifically. Yes, there are ventilation issues when running the machine with the lid closed, but as AptMunich pointed out, Apple officially support it by telling you how it can be done.

Wow- thanks for the quick response on this! And yes, I guess I did mean sleep mode, huh?

It's just rather frustrating to have to quit listening to music, downloading software, sign off aim, etc. just to carry my book to the next room over.

Thanks for the links to that software- I'll check it out for sure!

So everyone just closes their macs and let them go to sleep? No shutdowns? I'm a pc user who will be having a mac soon.

cvclover said:

So everyone just closes their macs and let them go to sleep? No shutdowns? I'm a pc user who will be having a mac soon.

Click to expand...

Yes putting the computer to sleep with out shutting down makes it alot easier, it waste almost no battery power because only the ram is powered, every thing else is off, this allows for what you are doing to be stored in ram so the computer will "wake" really fast as if only the screen saver was on.

You gotta love the sleep function. I only restarted my Macbook this morning cause of the update. First time for a while. I love it.

Suppose if you want to use Sleepless you could always stand your MacBook up and have the rear vents at the top to help the dissapation of heat.