Shut down, Sleep, Hibernate: Which is Recommended?

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hermit

My Vista 32bit is used at home for a few hours daily. A comment in another
group stated shutting down / starting back up is harder on the system over
the years. True?
Is there any difference between the button left of the lock symbol ('Saves
session & puts comp. in low power state' and sleep? When I'm done for the
day which is recommended by those who know? Thanx
 
I think there's some confusion amongst the other contributors here, because
the question was about "sleep" and the answers were about "standby", which
are different things.

Let's just quickly go through them:

"Shut Down" closes down all applications, the OS, and powers off the whole
computer*. When you restart, you go through the BIOS startup, and then boot
the OS to an empty desktop.

the current state of the OS and open applications to a
disk file. This takes several seconds. It then powers off the whole
computer (like Shut Down does). When you restart, the computer goes through
the BIOS startup but then, rather than booting the OS in the normal way the
operating state is reloaded from disk, which again takes several seconds.
You are then presented with your applications open, just as you left them.

"Standby" shuts down most of the computer (hard disks, processor, fans,
screen), but leaves the memory powered up, along with some of the
peripherals. It's rather like "freezing" your computer at a moment in time.
It is quick: it doesn't require the current state to be written to disk.
Resuming from standby is also quick: effectively it just "unfreezes" the
processor and carries on from where it left off. It has one major
disadvantage: if the power is removed whilst the computer is in standby, the
operating state of the OS and applications is lost. This can lead to data
loss.

"Sleep" is a new mode introduced with Vista, and it's a clever combination
of Standby and Hibernate. "Sleep" writes the current state of the OS and
open applications to a disk file - just like Hibernate - which takes several
seconds. But then it effectively puts the computer into standby - that is,
it shuts down most of the hardware but leaves the memory powered up.
Provided the power remains on the computer whilst it is "sleeping", it can
resume almost instantly, because the operating state is preserved in memory
and it just "unfreezes" the processor, like resuming from the old Standby.
If the power should be lost whilst the computer is in Sleep, no data is lost
because the operating state was saved to disk. In this case the computer
goes through the BIOS startup and then reloads the operating state from the
disk file, just like coming out of Hibernate.

"Sleep" is wonderful: it allows an almost instantaneous resumption to your
open applications if the power was not interrupted. If it *was*
interrupted, it still resumes to your open applications, but it takes a
little longer.

To answer your question:

1/ The supposed effects of starting and stopping your hard disk, as opposed
to running it 24/7, are NOT well established, despite what a few opinionated
but ill-informed hot-heads in this newsgroup will tell you. There is no
*conclusive* data to suggest which is better for disk life (you might like
to look at the research Google have done in this field), or the life of the
other electronics.

2/ Powering down your computer will definitely save energy, though.

3/ The best way to power it down by far is the new "Sleep" mode in Vista,
which is the default function of the "power button" icon you can see when
you click the Orb. It allows an instant resume if the power was
uninterrupted whilst the computer was "sleeping", and a pretty quick resume
if the power was removed for some reason. I recommend it.

I hope this has been of some help.

SteveT

*Strictly speaking, even when "fully switched off" using the power button,
parts of the motherboard remain powered. This allows it to respond to the
power button on the front of the case.
 
Steve, thank you for a very useful summary.

How do you respond to "respawns", who said "With the ongoing fight against
global warming, things like keeping your computer on standby ain't helping,
it's still using up to 80% of the power it would if it was on, so why not
just wait another .40 seconds and do everyone a favour."? I accept that
Standby mode (which I do not use, and would not now that I have read your
notes) still incurs some power usage, but I would have thought it was
minimal and nowhere even near 80% of normal usage.
 
How do you respond to "respawns", who said "With the ongoing fight against
global warming, things like keeping your computer on standby ain't
helping, it's still using up to 80% of the power it would if it was
on.......
Click to expand...

It's an exaggeration, of course. I'll measure mine for you next time I
power it down, but it's nothing like as high as 80%.

Obviously, it's higher than zero, and you'll have to make your own judgement
about whether you want to go the whole hog and actually unplug it from the
wall.

Like I say, I will let you know the power consumption of mine in the various
modes later on this evening (I'll be working on it until then).

Has anyone else got a power meter they could use, so we can compare notes?

SteveT
 
It's an exaggeration, of course. I'll measure mine for you next time I
power it down, but it's nothing like as high as 80%.
Click to expand...

Right, I have some real data, one aspect of which is slightly unexpected.
I'll show the power consumption of my computer for the scenarios we
discussed.

Disconnected from the mains using the switch on the back of the PSU:
0W

PSU switch on, but computer switched off in the normal way with the power
button on the front (or the Orb | Shut Down option):
6W

Computer fully booted and running Vista:
135W average (but it varies between 120W and 150W)

Computer put into "Sleep" mode using Orb | Power symbol icon:
6W

I didn't measure the old Standby and Hibernate modes because it would mean
reconfiguring my system and I didn't want to do that, and in any case they
aren't really relevant with Vista.

Two interesting things are obvious. Firstly, the power consumption when in
Sleep mode is MUCH less than when running: approximately 4.6%, nothing like
the 80% Respawns claims.

Secondly, there is no measurable difference between the computer in Sleep
mode, and the computer powered down using the front panel button (or the Orb
| Shut Down option). In both cases the power consumption is 6W (to the
nearest watt). You recall that I said parts of the motherboard remain
powered, even when the PC is ostensibly switched "off"? It is clear that
the additional load of keeping the RAM powered when in Sleep mode is too
small to make a difference on my power meter.

To me the outcomes are clear: there is a VERY STRONG case for switching your
PC into Sleep mode when you are not using it, in terms of energy saving. I
reduces the consumption to just 4.6% of the normal running consumption.
Secondly, to reduce it even further, you need to actually switch off the
mains supply (or unplug it). This reduces the consumption from 6W to zero.
Using the front panel on-off button (or the Orb | Power symbol icon) does
NOT give a measurable further saving over Sleep mode.

Only you can judge whether this final 6W is worth messing about with. The
cost to you is:

* a longer boot-up time (BIOS sequence, plus loading the system back from
the disk)
* the hassle of unplugging the mains lead (or using the switch - if fitted -
on the back of the PSU)

The benefit to you is:

* further 6W saving

One last thing to say: I did this test of a very standard,
middle-of-the-road desktop machine. Laptops are more complicated: in
general they use much less power, but measuring the power when in Sleep mode
or powered down is more tricky because it depends on the state of the
battery. Even when powered down a laptop will charge the battery,
increasing the apparent power consumption.

I hope this real, measured data is helpful to you. As I say, it is only
from one PC. Hopefully others will post their own measurements and between
us we'll get a clearer picture.

SteveT
 
Which is recommended? I think it's up to the user.

With my laptop I use Sleep mode during the day so when I leave my desk all I
have to do is close the lid. When I return to my desk, I open the lid and the
laptop wakes up from sleep mode within seconds and is ready to go.

Overnight, I put it in the Hibernate mode so in the morning it takes about a
minute or two to come up to full function.

A couple times a week I will Shut it down to give the OS and programs a
chance to reset if needed.

Note: I had a problem with Sleep mode after installing SP1. The problem was
fixed when I downloaded the computer manufacturer's latest BIOS which
resolved some SP1 issues.

oscar
 
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