What is the difference between setting a computer to sleep and setting it to hibernate? Which one would require you to sign in after you decide to use the computer again?
What is the difference between setting a computer to hibernate and setting it to sleep?
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Printed from: http://arezeez.com/2009/09/07/what-is-the-difference-between-setting-a-computer-to-hibernate-and-setting-it-to-sleep/ .
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© 2010.
Hibernate saves the current state (RAM contents, etc) to the hard drive and shuts down completely. On starting up, the state is resumed from the hard disk.
Sleep (or suspend) keeps everything intact in the RAM and powers off everything but the essential components required to keep the current state intact (power to the RAM, and not much else).
oth commands provide a easy and quick way to leave your computer in existing last state and come back to work on it at exactly the same state later without waiting too long to system to restore itself. However, fundamentally there are significant different between them that allows users to easily choose whether they should use Sleep or Hibernate.
Sleep is commonly known as Standby in Windows system or S3 in ACPI. In Sleep mode, the power supply to non-essential and non-critical component is withheld, and most system operation is shutdown and stopped. All data in physical memory (RAM module) is still kept in internal memory, and whole system is place in stand-by mode, which can be woke up and used almost immediately. In Sleep mode, the power load reduce considerably, saving a lot of energy. However, the power must not be cut off, and must be continue to supply to the computer. Once out of power, the system will have to start again just like a newly boot computer just started from power off state.
Windows Vista has enhanced sleep mode so that on notebook computer, sleeping computer will automatically hibernate when battery power level is low. It also has built-in Hybrid Sleep mode which ensure that system state is preserved when there is power lost.
Hibernate, or S4 in ACPI, meanwhile will save the data in physical memory to hard disk drive (HDD), and then power off the computer. In Hibernate mode, a file named hiberfil.sys which has the same file size as the amount of system memory will be created on the local disk. When user wants to use the computer again, the computer will boot up and load back the state at the last hibernation. The advantage of Hibernation mode is that no power is wasted for maximum saving of power. In Hibernation dormancy, no electricity is consumed by system. Beside, restore from Hibernate is generally faster than computer reboot, and is totally different from fresh start, as users can return to the exact state of last hibernation with all programs running and documents opened intact, instead of empty desktop. The disadvantage of Hibernate is that after a period of time, there may have fragmentation of file. Users will need to defragment the volume that stores the hibernation file frequently.
In Windows Vista, ‘Stand By’ and ‘Hibernate’ have been combined into an additional ‘Sleep’ function which is active by default. When chosen, this new ‘Sleep" mode saves information from the computer’s memory to the hibernation file on disk, but instead of turning off the computer, it simultaneously enters Standby mode. After a specified amount of time (3 hours by default), it shuts down (hibernates). If power is lost during Standby mode, the system resumes from the existing hibernate image on disk. Sleep mode, thus, offers the benefits of fast suspend and resume when in Standby mode and reliability when resuming from hibernation, in case of power loss. Also, in earlier Windows versions, drivers sometimes prevented Windows from entering or reliably resuming from a power-saving state. Windows Vista ensures the availability and reliable resuming from any power state. Applications can disable sleep idle timers when needed such as when burning discs or recording media. Away mode, which is not a power plan by itself but a feature, automatically turns off displays, video rendering and sound but keeps the computer working when the user is away from the computer. Optionally, it can also transition to sleep mode. Power settings are also configurable through Group Policy.
In simple terms, when you set your computer to Hibernate it takes a snapshot of all your open programs/applications and documents that are loaded in your RAM, saves it to your hard disk and then powers off the computer. This way when you turn on your computer again it will reload the contents of the hibernate file to the RAM so you are back to where you were before shutting down the computer.
Whereas in Sleep mode, you just simply put your computer to power saving mode. A small amount of power is still being drawn to keep the contents of the RAM. It does not turn the computer off. If there is a power interruption like the battery runs out or is taken out with the charger unplugged, all contents in the RAM are erased and there is no way to go back to the state you left off. You need to restart Windows in the usual manner and rerun your applications again.
I always use the Hibernate feature because it take me back to where I was. It’s a time saver.
hibernate is what bears do
sleep is what people do
which is better?
when you set your computer to hibernate all the data in your RAM is copied to your hard drive & will be loaded when you turn your computer on again>> in case of a laptop, battery is not consumed
however when you set your computer to sleep all the data in your RAM remains there and almost all the parts except the RAM are turned off>> in case of a laptop, battery is only consumed for RAM
>>One more thing: it’s safer to use hibernation because if the electricity goes out or you run out of battery you won’t lose the unsaved data on your computer
Hibernate is when your computer runs out of battery. But that is just for laptops. Setting it to sleep is when you don’t have to go through the start page and all that and it just goes straight to the desktop or the page you were on before you put the computer to sleep. Normally, there’s a button on the keyboard with a moon symbol and when you press it, it shuts down automatically. Then, when you open it once again then the desktop just pops open and you can continue what you were doing before you set it to sleep mode.