In the morning and evening, many of us are used to turning our computers on and off. It takes a lot of time. At the same time, we do not turn off the mobile phone when we talk on it, but simply put it into standby mode by turning off the display, and, if necessary, instantly restore its operation with one button. You can do the same with a computer, giving up the daily on and off.
Instead of turning off the power, you can simply put the computer into sleep or hibernation mode, which will significantly reduce the time it takes to wake it up waiting and launching applications every day. When sleep is used, the operating system stores the state of the system in memory and enters a low power mode. During hibernation, the system state is saved to disk and the computer shuts down completely. In this case, the return of the system to a working state is performed rather quickly. There is also hybrid mode, in which the state of the system is saved to disk, while the computer enters a low power mode.
1. What are the advantages?
No need to wait
A complete shutdown and restart of the computer takes more time than entering and recovering from sleep / hebernation mode. For example, turning on the computer may take from 1 to 10-15 minutes (depending on the number of startup programs and the speed of your computer). When restoring your computer from sleep mode, it only takes 5 to 20 seconds!
No need to close work programs
When using sleep / hibernation mode, there is no need to close the working programs, because upon recovery, all your applications will work and be in exactly the same state in which you left them when you switched to sleep / hibernation mode.
With a simple shutdown, you need to end all programs and then reopen them when turned on, which also takes time and effort.
Process automation
When using the sleep mode, you can transfer some of the automatic processes to the night. For example, you can use the task scheduler to set the time for creating backups, defragmenting disks and a number of other important operations that take a lot of time. Thus, you will not spend a second of your time waiting for the completion of such operations, because they will be performed when you are resting.
This automation is possible if the "Allow wake-up timers" option is enabled in the power settings. It can also be useful for automated processes to set a sleep timer. This can be done in the same settings window by specifying the desired value next to the "Sleep after" item.
2. How do I activate sleep and hibernation?
For laptop
In the case of a laptop, the best solution would be to use the sleep mode, which is activated when the laptop lid is closed. The laptop is equipped with a battery and its consumption is very low. Therefore, with frequent use, it will be most convenient. At the same time, you will get almost instant system recovery after opening the laptop lid, which will allow you to get started right away.
In the event that you plan to give up working with a laptop for a long time, you can put it into hibernation mode, and then it will not consume any energy at all.
If the laptop battery charge is critical, and it is in sleep mode, the system will automatically put it into hibernation mode and completely turn off the power.
Your data will not be affected. After turning on, everything will be restored in the form in which you left the computer the last time.
To activate sleep mode when you close the laptop lid, go to "Control Panel" - "Power" and in the right side panel select "Actions when closing the lid" and select the desired value.
3. For a stationary computer
For a desktop computer that does not have a battery, you can also use sleep mode, but in this case you will have to keep it constantly connected to the network. You can also use hibernation or hybrid mode.
When using hybrid mode, computer recovery will be very quick, and you can start working almost immediately after pressing the power button (or you can configure the computer to turn on when you press any key on the keyboard or mouse, which is also convenient). In the event of a power outage during hybrid mode, the computer will power off, but the system status will remain on the disk and will be restored the next time you turn it on.
To activate sleep mode when you press the power button on the system unit, go to "Control Panel" - "Power supply" and in the right side panel select "Actions of the power buttons" and select the desired value.
To activate hybrid sleep mode, open "Control Panel" - "Power Options". Next to the active item, click on the "Power plan settings" link. Then select the "Change advanced power settings" link. In the window that appears in the tree, select "Sleep" and in it the item "Allow hybrid sleep". After you save your changes, hybrid mode will be automatically activated when you activate sleep mode.
Users of the most recent editions of Windows (versions 7 and 8) are armed with a combined hybrid sleep mode. Let's take a look at all three options.
Sleep mode
It is characterized by lower power consumption compared to normal computer operation. Some of the computer's components are turned off, for example, the hard drive, and some begin to consume less electricity. All running applications remain in the computer's RAM, continue their work, but are in a waiting state. Resuming work from sleep mode is almost instantaneous, you get a ready-to-use computer in a matter of seconds.
Hibernation mode
Designed preferable for use on laptops where battery power and quick use when needed are essential. When hibernation mode is enabled, all running applications from RAM are saved to a separate file on the computer's hard drive, and the computer itself is turned off. Resuming work is slower than waking up from hibernation, but faster than normal Windows boot. And yes, the system is restored to its original state prior to activating hibernation. That is, all running applications and windows will be restored.
Hybrid sleep mode
It will be useful mainly for desktop systems and unreliable power grids. Combines the benefits of Sleep and Hibernation. Active applications are saved both in RAM and on the hard drive. The electricity meter is slowing down. The computer will be able to wake up in the correct form even with problems with the power supply.
Output
When leaving your computer for a few minutes or for lunch, it's best to use hibernation mode. You will save some of the electricity, while returning, you can very quickly get to work. Using hibernation mode is important for laptop computers. It is better to use it during long breaks from working with a computer, but, at the same time, wanting to get a workable system in a fairly short time. By using hybrid sleep mode, you can be sure that a depleted laptop battery or a sudden loss of current in the outlet will not result in the loss of unsaved data.
Many have heard the concept as computer sleep or hibernation... In this material you will learn what computer hibernation is, what it is for and what consequences it has.
Sleep mode - the state of the computer, in which all the data of the previous work is stored in RAM, and there is no external sign of the computer's operation. After turning on the computer in hibernation mode, or by pressing the power key or opening the laptop lid, all data from the RAM becomes active and you see the computer in the state that was before it was sent to hibernation. That is, all open windows, programs, games, browser tabs continue to be open and work after being turned on.
The hibernation mode was invented with the aim of saving the session of using the computer for a long time and quickly recovering it. During sleep mode, the computer consumes very little power compared to normal operation.
During sleep mode, the laptop's battery power is spent only on powering the RAM, which maintains the data of the last session.
You can put your computer into sleep mode through the panel Start:
Hibernation volatility
It should be noted that if you somehow turn off the power of the computer while it is in sleep mode (for example, if you disconnect the desktop PC from the mains, or remove the battery on the laptop), the entire session of the previous work that was saved in sleep mode will be reset and, accordingly, after The next time the computer is turned on, it will not load the sleep mode, but a new full load of the operating system.
What should you choose if you are not planning to use your computer for a while? Millions of users prefer to turn off their device completely, but this is not necessary at all. Moreover, turning on and off takes a lot of time: you need to close all the programs with which you worked, and then you will have to reopen everything.
At the same time, you cannot keep your computer on all the time, which leads to huge electricity bills and compromises the safety of the device. The best option is to send it to sleep mode, for which we press a button on the keyboard, and in the case of a laptop, simply close the lid.
For years, Microsoft has taught its users to follow an incomprehensible sequence: to turn off the computer, you had to click on the "Start" button. Now everything has changed. The shutdown command is now available from the panel Charms bar (only in Windows 8.1) and on the desktop hidden "from prying eyes".
Hint: if you use a keyboard, knowing some of the commands will save you a couple of unnecessary clicks. Press the Windows + I buttons to open the Charms Bar settings menu, then select Power and Shut Down. In the default screen, the "Windows" button appears when you move the mouse to the lower left corner.
"Sleep"
In the good old days in Windows there was a command "Standby", when the computer went into a special state of saving resources, while programs and documents were stored in memory and were ready to work at any time.
Standby mode was a great help for laptop users when it was necessary to urgently leave for an urgent matter for a couple of minutes. However, with this mode, the user often forgot that his laptop was not turned off, and only realized when the battery was completely discharged and the data was lost.
Hibernation has now replaced hibernation, in which programs cannot continue to use the machine's resources. In addition, the system copies all used files and temporarily stores data in a special file on the hard disk in case the user wants to continue working. When a little time passes, you can start work almost instantly. But after a long period of time, the system completely cuts off the power.
Fortunately, copies of documents continue to be stored on disk. Therefore, it will take a little longer for the computer to turn on, but still, it is less than it takes to start the system from scratch.
Pressing the button closes all open programs, turns off the system, and restarts it. Use it if either the programs do not work as they should.
Shutdown and Shutdown Computer
The system closes all open programs, offers to save the documents and turns off the computer.
Windows 8 powers up and starts faster than before thanks to Hybrid Boot, which means that a complete shutdown now contains hibernation items to save users time.
It's still better to choose sleep mode... The exception is when new hardware is installed on the computer (not just connecting via the USB connector), then the device must be completely turned off.
Hint: If you are used to working with the keyboard, press Ctrl + Alt + Delete and select the Shutdown button Shutdown.
