advce in windows help on hibernation and standby

J

jww

I recently requested some information about the difference between hibernate
and standby on a pc, on another newsgroup.

i got this advice:

RTFM. Press the F1 key, and ask Windows Help.

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I then said when i typed in i got no entry for either hibernate or
standby.

i have xp and used F1 in both windows and outlook express and also
the help icon in the toolbar on both. then i tried the 'power options
overview' as was suggested by the respondent below. but still cannot locate
this information or anything similar. would anyone be able to advise a
novice please. how did he find this response from F1 windows help and i
could not?

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You have a problem using online help systems?

I typed in Hibernate and got these:

Help and Information
a.. Standby mode
b.. Hibernate mode

Pick a task
c.. Automatically put your computer into hibernation
d.. Automatically put your computer on standby
e.. Manually put your computer into hibernation
f.. Manually put your computer on standby
g.. Password-protect your computer during standby or hibernation
h.. Common tasks: Power Options
i.. Change the elapsed time before your computer automatically goes on
standby

Overviews, Articles and Tutorials
j.. Managing power on a portable computer
k.. Power Options overview
l.. Glossary
m.. Glossary

Now go back and try again. Hint: I'd suggest the "Power Options overview"

(geez...where DO these people come from...)
 
R

Richard In Va.

Hello jww,

"Hibernation" is a shut down mode that allows for faster system startup at
next boot.

When entering hibernation mode during shutdown, the operating system either
creates or updates a system file called "hiberfil.sys". The file is a
hidden system file that by default is turned on (enabled) and present when
Windows is installed. Even if it's not being used. The files is located
somewhere on drive C:\ and will have some size to it. You'll need to turn
on hidden file in view options to see it if needed.

But in a nut-shell, the "hiberfil.sys" file contains a record of what is
currently residing on your RAM memory as well as the state of our computer.
Installed hardware and open applications just to name a few. When you boot
up from hibernation mode. the OS can read this file and get running alot
faster as apposed to a cold boot when it has to look around for installed
hardware, installing drivers and so-on and so-on. Nothing is lost during a
power service outage when hibernating.
Therefore, great for laptops that get plugged in-and-out all the time.

"Suspend" mode is similar to hibernation except it has no such file,
everything stays in RAM which depends on power.
Although power stays on, power consumption is reduced to a minimum.

These shut-down modes where likely developed for laptops especially running
the NT operating system which is famous for taking forever to boot.. This
is my opinion only... I might be all wrong.

My other opinion (if I can be entitled to two) is that a good (cold) boot is
good on a daily bases. Just to clean out the memory and to shut down
applications that tend to hang around in memory even after you've closed
them down. Therefore I don't use either shut down modes.

If your using a PC with a relatively new Processor and generous memory (1GB)
or so, using hibernate or suspend may not offer that great of a benefit.
But it is good to understand what they are and how they work.

A google search likely will provide a more technical explanation.

Hope this helps...!

Richard In Va.

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