Power Down Settings

[Guest]

I do not understand the difference between "hibernation" and "stand by" when
it comes to powering down my computer after a pre-set time. I want it to
power down but want it to be able to download patches, Norton Anitvirus
updates, etc. which I have being downloaded at 3 a.m. Will either the
hibernation or stand by mode allow downloads or do I need to keep my CPU
running all of the time?

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

You can use standby, but not hibernate.Hibernate is the same as shutdown,
except the contents of ram are saved to the hiberfil.sys file on the hard
drive. The upper levels of standby (S1/S2 power states) are most suitable
for allowing scheduled tasks to run.

A definition of the various power states:

S0 - Up and running

S1 - Standby. Drives, display off. Power still on to cpu, fans, ram

S2 - Standby. Same as S1, but cpu is powered down

S3 - Standby. Power only to refresh ram

S4 - Hibernate. No power, contents of ram copied to hard drive before
powerdown (hiberfil.sys)

S5 - System off.

Not all states are supported on all systems, and this is a somewhat
simplified view. Some systems, hardware, or combinations thereof will not
support any of these states.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org