"Hibernate" Mandatory?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Frank Haber
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Frank Haber

A Dell tech once claimed that "Microsoft would not let them ship a PC without
Hibernation turned on." I questioned that, and asked, "Desktops, too?" He
said yes. That seemed silly on a machine where the hard disk would never even
be permitted to spin down.

Since every new Pro install on a desktop seems to default to Hibernate-off,
even with a very recent ACPI BIOS, I'm inclined to disbelieve the above.
Emendations, corrections?
 
Frank said:
A Dell tech once claimed that "Microsoft would not let them ship a
PC without Hibernation turned on." I questioned that, and asked,
"Desktops, too?" He said yes. That seemed silly on a machine
where the hard disk would never even be permitted to spin down.

Since every new Pro install on a desktop seems to default to
Hibernate-off, even with a very recent ACPI BIOS, I'm inclined to
disbelieve the above. Emendations, corrections?
Click to expand...

Wondering why it would be a concern, actually.
It's a simple thing - even in mass - to turn off.
 
Frank Haber wrote on 16-Jan-2006 1:37 PM:
A Dell tech once claimed that "Microsoft would not let them ship a PC
without Hibernation turned on." I questioned that, and asked,
"Desktops, too?" He said yes. That seemed silly on a machine where the
hard disk would never even be permitted to spin down.

Since every new Pro install on a desktop seems to default to
Hibernate-off, even with a very recent ACPI BIOS, I'm inclined to
disbelieve the above. Emendations, corrections?
Click to expand...

Since Dell can't even deliver a batch of 100 identical machines all with
the same exact settings, I doubt that this is true.

For example, on the latest Optiplex SX620s I've been getting, it is
completely random whether "smooth edges of screen fonts" property is
enabled or disabled. About 20% are disabled. In prior years this was
always enabled and I could simply select ClearType with a registry key.
Now I have to enable font smoothing to make sure that ClearType is
working on LCD displays.
 
Dell can't even deliver a batch of 100 identical

This is true. I deal mostly with Dimensions, and sometimes wonder whether
every build tech has his own favorite image. An early HD failure gets you a
fresh adventure. But lately they have been good about keeping the patch
levels pretty current. This is refreshing for small guys like me, who
typically wrangle the OEM install, rather than ghosting.
 
<cynicism>The hibernation's probably to prevent unnecessary load on AOL's
servers, as the client is foisted on the machines and running all the
time.</cynicysm>

Seriously, this is a major pain, as it's very easy to overlook when setting
one up, and you end-up with a sevice call to 'fix the broken network
connection' when a networked machine hibernates and loses its connection.

In general the whole design of power-control on PCs needs a rethink: I can't
count the number of times I've gone to a blank-screened machine to do work on
it, and switched the thing OFF, destroying data, when I intended to switch it
ON. Part of the problem is the insistence by PC manufacturers on the use of
switches that give no clue as to their position, and indicators that have no
clear meaning.

It's become force of habit these days that before you turn any computer on,
you first of all shuggle the mouse hard, then thump a selection of keys
vigorously in case it's only pretending to be switched off. This might type
some garbage into the active window, but that's preferable to losing the
whole document, and maybe even corrupting the disk if you're unlucky.
 
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