Answers.Body: <p>Since biological samples and reagents cost time and money, I wouldn't push it too much.  Checking your email would be fine, but I wouldn't be browsing the web (besides gmail/calendar) in case a plug-in (e.g. flash), bad javascript, etc. causes any trouble.  </p>
  
  <p>I'd disable any auto-updates too.</p>
  
  <p>Locking the screen would be fine.</p>
  
  <p>Personally, I'd buy a cheap chromebook and let the Mac work.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-03-01T06:16:59.823Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2018-03-01T06:16:59.823Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Edward Kirton
Answers.Body: <p>Yes, that should be fine, especially if basecalling is disabled. Locking a screen should be fine as well.</p>
  
  <p>I prefer to do basecalling after a run anyway, because there's a chance that it could chew up too much processor time and result in lots of skipped reads.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-02-21T19:04:16.137Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2018-02-21T19:04:16.137Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: gringer
Body: <p>I have a Mac Book Pro and I am about to start a sequencing run on the MinION. MinKNOW is going to be running for 2 days. 
  Can I use my computer during sequencing? Can I browse the web and use Excel, etc? I am not speaking about running a parallelised genome assembly on all my cores using my entire RAM but more mundane activities, like checking my emails or taking notes. Furthermore, can I lock my screen using Control + Shift + OFF without negatively affecting the sequencing? </p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2018-02-21T21:51:43.247Z
Comments.Text: By locking do you include suspending the machine or not?
Comments.UserDisplayName: llrs
Tags: <nanopore><ngs><minion><minknow>
Title: Can I use my computer while MinION is sequencing without negatively affecting the run?
ThreadText: # Can I use my computer while MinION is sequencing without negatively affecting the run?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2018-02-21)
  
  I have a Mac Book Pro and I am about to start a sequencing run on the MinION. MinKNOW is going to be running for 2 days.
  Can I use my computer during sequencing? Can I browse the web and use Excel, etc? I am not speaking about running a parallelised genome assembly on all my cores using my entire RAM but more mundane activities, like checking my emails or taking notes. Furthermore, can I lock my screen using Control + Shift + OFF without negatively affecting the sequencing?
  
  **Tags:** nanopore, ngs, minion, minknow
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: By locking do you include suspending the machine or not?  
  
  ---
  
  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_3 on 2018-02-21. Score: 4 | Accepted answer
  
  Yes, that should be fine, especially if basecalling is disabled. Locking a screen should be fine as well.
  
  I prefer to do basecalling after a run anyway, because there's a chance that it could chew up too much processor time and result in lots of skipped reads.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2018-03-01. Score: 1
  
  Since biological samples and reagents cost time and money, I wouldn't push it too much. Checking your email would be fine, but I wouldn't be browsing the web (besides gmail/calendar) in case a plug-in (e.g. flash), bad javascript, etc. causes any trouble.
  
  I'd disable any auto-updates too.
  
  Locking the screen would be fine.
  
  Personally, I'd buy a cheap chromebook and let the Mac work.
  
  
  ---
  
  