Standby vs hibernate?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jerry and Carol Schull
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Jerry and Carol Schull

Can someone please explain the difference between stanby and hibernate?
Does either take the place of shutting down the computer at night?

Jerry in Vegas
 
I do not use either one, I shutdown at night.

From XP HELP:

hibernation
A state in which your computer shuts down after saving everything in memory
on your hard disk. When you bring your computer out of hibernation, all
programs and documents that were open are restored to your desktop.

standby
A state in which your computer consumes less power when it is idle, but
remains available for immediate use. While your computer is on standby,
information in computer memory is not saved on your hard disk. If there is
an interruption in power, the information in memory is lost.

Standby is a state in which your monitor and hard disks turn off, so that
your computer uses less power. When you want to use the computer again, it
comes out of standby quickly, and your desktop is restored exactly as you
left it. Use standby to save power when you will be away from the computer
for a short time while working. Because Standby does not save your desktop
state to disk, a power failure while on Standby can cause you to lose
unsaved information.

Hibernation is a state in which your computer shuts down to save power but
first saves everything in memory on your hard disk. When you restart the
computer, your desktop is restored exactly as you left it. Use hibernation
to save power when you will be away from the computer for an extended time
while working.

Put the computer on standby when it is idle. While on standby, your entire
computer switches to a low-power state where devices, such as the monitor
and hard disks, turn off and your computer uses less power. When you want to
use the computer again, it comes out of standby quickly, and your desktop is
restored exactly as you left it. Standby is particularly useful for
conserving battery power in portable computers. Because Standby does not
save your desktop state to disk, a power failure while on Standby can cause
you to lose unsaved information.

Put your computer in hibernation. The hibernate feature saves everything in
memory on disk, turns off your monitor and hard disk, and then turns off
your computer. When you restart your computer, your desktop is restored
exactly as you left it. It takes longer to bring your computer out of
hibernation than out of standby.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
 
I don't turn off my computers at night.* (Sometimes, _I_ don't shut
down at night.) Windows XP does maintenance-type stuff and some
chores at night, if I'm recharging.

I happen to use both Standby and Hibernation modes, anyways. I've
got two laptops, but desktop-PC users certainly benefit, too.

For my short breaks, the laptops are set so that XP will switch off
the monitor after 30 minutes user-inactivity**, but the hard drive
remains un-parked. (Those settings are usually under Power Options
in the Control Panel, when a PC's hardware supports them.)

For my long-term breaks (eg: going out, hobbying, recovering from
lost work, drinking), I close the lid, and that tells XP to go into
Standby mode. My laptops will sit for several hours in Standby mode
before their juice level gets low enough to trigger XP to switch to
Hibernation mode).***

I use Hibernation mode when I transport a laptop. (I don't like it
swinging around while the power is on -- even if I have an
expectation that the hard drive will remain parked.) My laptops can
sit for days in Hibernation mode until the battery becomes too weak
for boot up. (Warning: Don't try this at home!)

I think that both modes are very useful simply by virtue of
substantially shortening the interval that begins with pushing the
power button and ends with the system running almost all of the
applications and work that were in progress at the onset of
hibernation.

Cheers,

~ Mark

PS: I realize that the statistics in this post may vary from other
users'; nobody needs to post their statistics for my benefit.

------------------------
* My computers usually stay on continually <knocking on wood> as
much as possible; they both eventually need to be turned off
secondary to instability or user error or because I'm experiencing a
premonition. Even in the absence of user error, I believe that
Windows XP will eventually lose it beyond recovery. (I realize that
unsolicited opinions may vary; nobody needs to post theirs for my
benefit, but if you can't help yourself then please e-mail it to
me.) One laptop's gone almost as far as 144 hours before
functionality became too abnormal, while the other has never
survived 72 hours.

**One of my hobbies

***Due to the crappy nature of laptop batteries in general, my
computers wouldn't last more than a few hours away from the juice in
the absence of Standby and Hibernation modes.


< end of my post >


The following snip from a post in this thread by Wesley Vogel gives
more definition.
 
In a earlier post I was basically asking the same question and was treated
like a idiot because I am on a desktop. My original question remains
unanswered.
I shut down monitor and drives using power properties after a set number of
minutes but am curious if there is a deeper shutdown that I can implement
immediately (short of power off which if far from immediate). Standby locks
me up with screensaver displayed forcing power plug pulling.
SG
 
Neither one turns the computer off.

Note, in XP, you have to click start, turn off computer, to get to any of
these...
ONLY one selection within "turn off computer" actually turns off the
computer.
More MS prevarications.
Prior MS 98/ME selections were straightforward and truthful.
 
Hi Noncompliant:

Actually, you can bypass the start menu. If the focus is on the
desktop, then hit [Alt]+[F4]. (If the desktop does not have the
focus, then click it first.)

Your point about MS prevarications still applies, however; no matter
how one gets there, the window title still says, "Turn off
computer".

~ Mark

PS: For the reader who wonders why they can't see a Hibernate icon
on the "Turn off computer" window, hold down one of the shift keys;
this causes the Standby icon to change to the Hibernate icon.
 
Noncompliant said:
Neither one turns the computer off.
Click to expand...

I completely disagree. Hibernate, as has been mentioned, saves what is
in RAM to the harddisk and then shuts off the computer. I have swapped
laptop hard drives that were in a "hibernate" state and when swapping
back I get the same point I was at. If you tell the computer to
hibernate, it WILL turn the computer off. (I do this with my laptop all
the time and rarely if ever have a problem - definitely haven't had a
problem with hibernate for at least a year).

-Lee
 
A PC or laptop is not off if in hibernate mode.

Standby and hibernate were initially developed for laptops to save power
when not in use and left on. Which is and was an excellent idea for
laptops.

An easy way to tell if a PC or laptop is initially actually off is to
visually account its display during turn-on.

An MVP would not make such a ludicrous statement.
 
A PC or laptop is not off if in hibernate mode.

Standby and hibernate were initially developed for laptops to save power
when not in use and left on. Which is and was an excellent idea for
laptops.

An easy way to tell if a PC or laptop is initially actually off is to
visually account its display during turn-on.

An MVP would not make such a ludicrous statement.
Click to expand...

When I close the LID on my laptop it is completely powered down, nothing
running, nothing has any more power than if I used the power button and
held it in for 10 seconds.

The difference between shutting down and suspend is that when the computer
boots back up, if suspended, it will restore the memory image instead of
booting from scratch.

I can assure you that suspend (or hibernate, can't remember which one)
actually shuts down the computer. The other one will put it in low power
mode and it will appear to be asleep, but still has some power applied.
 
Follow-ON: The details of exactly HOW the computer saves your info during hibernation are of interest. It seems like a small partition is often reserved specifcally for this purpose. But I can imagine that some manufacturers use static ram for this purpose? Such an arrangement would account for why someone reported swapping their laptop hard drive during hiberation?? --or did I read that wrong?? In such a case, I imagine that coming out of hibernation could be pretty fast, perhaps rivaling coming out of standby.

MY PROBLEM: I understand how mice, keyboards and LAN connections can be enabled/disabled to bring the computer out of either hiberation or standby mode. On my Vista laptop I found then enabling allowed my computer to behave better, overall. On my desktop, I don't really want to disable these things cause I need them (e.g., for printing stuff)? My problem (XP Home edition with an HP Pavillion) is that my machine wakes up on it's own for reasons that escape me. I really want to use it primarily as a print server, or intensively to run 32 bit apps that are not supported on my 64 bit machine. Will these secrets be revealed in the event viewer? I seek control over this beast!

One suspect is Windows update. If this is the only problem I could live with this--or change it's configuration? Other ideas or tools would be welcome.

Thanks,
Lyle, Durham, NC
a.k.a. Rickenbacker108

Can someone please explain the difference between stanby and hibernate?
Does either take the place of shutting down the computer at night?

Jerry in Vegas
On Sunday, March 25, 2007 3:35 PM Wesley Vogel wrote:
I do not use either one, I shutdown at night.

From XP HELP:

hibernation
A state in which your computer shuts down after saving everything in memory
on your hard disk. When you bring your computer out of hibernation, all
programs and documents that were open are restored to your desktop.

standby
A state in which your computer consumes less power when it is idle, but
remains available for immediate use. While your computer is on standby,
information in computer memory is not saved on your hard disk. If there is
an interruption in power, the information in memory is lost.

Standby is a state in which your monitor and hard disks turn off, so that
your computer uses less power. When you want to use the computer again, it
comes out of standby quickly, and your desktop is restored exactly as you
left it. Use standby to save power when you will be away from the computer
for a short time while working. Because Standby does not save your desktop
state to disk, a power failure while on Standby can cause you to lose
unsaved information.

Hibernation is a state in which your computer shuts down to save power but
first saves everything in memory on your hard disk. When you restart the
computer, your desktop is restored exactly as you left it. Use hibernation
to save power when you will be away from the computer for an extended time
while working.

Put the computer on standby when it is idle. While on standby, your entire
computer switches to a low-power state where devices, such as the monitor
and hard disks, turn off and your computer uses less power. When you want to
use the computer again, it comes out of standby quickly, and your desktop is
restored exactly as you left it. Standby is particularly useful for
conserving battery power in portable computers. Because Standby does not
save your desktop state to disk, a power failure while on Standby can cause
you to lose unsaved information.

Put your computer in hibernation. The hibernate feature saves everything in
memory on disk, turns off your monitor and hard disk, and then turns off
your computer. When you restart your computer, your desktop is restored
exactly as you left it. It takes longer to bring your computer out of
hibernation than out of standby.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In Jerry and Carol Schull <[email protected]> hunted and pecked:
Click to expand...
Actually, you can bypass the start menu. If the focus is on the
desktop, then hit [Alt]+[F4]. (If the desktop does not have the
focus, then click it first.)

Your point about MS prevarications still applies, however; no matter
how one gets there, the window title still says, "Turn off
computer".

~ Mark

PS: For the reader who wonders why they can't see a Hibernate icon
on the "Turn off computer" window, hold down one of the shift keys;
this causes the Standby icon to change to the Hibernate icon.


news:[email protected]...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
NOTE: The ridiculous long physical lines shoved into Usenet by the
leeching Egghead gateway were reformatted to a more reasonable length.

Follow-ON: The details of exactly HOW the computer saves your info
during hibernation are of interest. It seems like a small partition
is often reserved specifcally for this purpose. But I can imagine
that some manufacturers use static ram for this purpose?
Click to expand...
<Lyle hasn't a clue on how hibernation works in Windows>

You thought the OP was still monitoring this OVER 3 YEAR thread? Notice
the timestamps next time.

Also, stop trying to hijack someone else's thread, old or new. Start
your own NEW thread to detail YOUR problems.
 
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