To hibernate or not to hibernate? That is the question.

[BudV]

Vista Home Premium SP1 (and WinXP Home SP3).

After Best Buy "optimized" my new Toshiba laptop, the Hibernate option was
nowhere to be found. Then, after going through World War III, erasing the
disk, and re-installing Vista to factory-fresh standards, it was there.
This time it even stuck around after Best Buy did their thing again. I
decided to ask some questions. It seemed that if I didn't like one answer,
all I had to do to get a second (and guaranteed different) opinion was to
ask a different employee.

I thought I liked Hibernate under XP. I was leery of Standby, probably
because of my mainframe days when memory was *really* temporary. I had no
trouble with Hibernate, and it was a faster restart than Shut Down. Now I'm
told to use Sleep (the old Standby) because Hibernate is fraught with
problems. Not only that, but I was told that Hibernate wasn't removed by
Best Buy, but by Windows Update! Actually, if I could feel comfortable with
Sleep, I like the idea of, say, dozing off after 10 minutes of inactivity,
but waking up instantly when necessary, combined with invoking a Shut Down
(or Hibernate) only when I close the lid.

I look forward to getting a variety of opinions here.

 

[Jon]

Vista Home Premium SP1 (and WinXP Home SP3).

After Best Buy "optimized" my new Toshiba laptop, the Hibernate option was
nowhere to be found. Then, after going through World War III, erasing the
disk, and re-installing Vista to factory-fresh standards, it was there.
This time it even stuck around after Best Buy did their thing again. I
decided to ask some questions. It seemed that if I didn't like one
answer, all I had to do to get a second (and guaranteed different) opinion
was to ask a different employee.

I thought I liked Hibernate under XP. I was leery of Standby, probably
because of my mainframe days when memory was *really* temporary. I had no
trouble with Hibernate, and it was a faster restart than Shut Down. Now
I'm told to use Sleep (the old Standby) because Hibernate is fraught with
problems. Not only that, but I was told that Hibernate wasn't removed by
Best Buy, but by Windows Update! Actually, if I could feel comfortable
with Sleep, I like the idea of, say, dozing off after 10 minutes of
inactivity, but waking up instantly when necessary, combined with invoking
a Shut Down (or Hibernate) only when I close the lid.

I look forward to getting a variety of opinions here.

Hibernate. That is my answer.

Actually, I use all 3 (Standby / Hibernate / Shut down) and find them all
useful...

Standby: Quick resume with the flick of a mouse or press of a keyboard
button
Hibernate: Conserves power (effectively off), but still able to wake
quickly, wake for scheduled tasks, etc
Shut down: More secure eg if leaving the premises etc


A dodgy Windows update I suppose could have removed your hibernate, but it
could equally well be an 'optimization' gone wrong. Either way it wouldn't
be the first time in human history where an expected enhancement caused more
problems than it solved, and where the buck was shifted to someone else.


Anyhow, don't rely on opinion / hearsay. Experiment. Try different
combinations for yourself. Once you're comfortable with it, you should be
able to use it in the same way as you did with XP.

 

[Richard G. Harper]

If a tech gets aggressive in "cleaning" the PC and removes the hibernation
file that will disable hibernation. You can restore the hibernation file
very easily and without reinstalling Windows.

 

[Richard Urban]

Vista has what is called hybrid sleep. It is a combination of sleep and
hibernation.

When the computer goes into sleep (either by the sleep timer or by you
manually placing the computer into sleep mode) the hibernation file is also
created.

When you wake the computer normally it resumes from sleep.

The nice part is - if the power should fail for any reason the computer will
resume from the hibernation file. It takes a bit longer but it brings you
back to the same state that sleep would have, had the power not interrupted.

 

[John Barnett MVP]

If you take a look at the disk cleanup option (start>all
programs>accessories>system tools>disk cleanup) you will (or should do) see
an option 'Hibernation File Cleaner' If you subsequently place a check mark
in the box to the left of this option and allow disk cleanup to do its
stuff, the next time you boot you will find hibernation missing. You might
find that the Best Buy tech may have been a little too enthusiastic when
using the disk cleanup tool and, probably, ticked most, if not all, of the
boxes. (This link from my website explains how to disable/enable hibernation
so you won't need to reinstall the operating system again:
http://www.winuser.co.uk/windows_vista_faq/05_disable_hibernation.html )

Hibernation is extremely useful but I only use it if I am going to be away
from the PC for an hour or so. (This link shows you how to put the
'hibernate' option on the shutdown menu:
http://www.winuser.co.uk/windows_vista_faq/55_add_hibernation_option_to_shutdown_menu.html )
Anything longer than that and the PC is shutdown completely.


--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://www.winuser.co.uk
Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..

 

[Poutnik]

Dalo Harkin's previous post was like this :

It all depends on what you use the PC for - if when it is not in use
then turn it off

There is minimal difference
between S4 - STD - hibernation and S5 - Turn off state.

E.g. at both states the keyboard and mouse
are usually under power, awaiting user action.
At Vista hybrid mode, also RAM is powered , with slow refresh.

Huge difference comes when it is starting up.
Booting, launching apps and bringing them back to previous state takes
much longer than awaking.

 

[Poutnik]

John Barnett MVP's previous post was like this :

Hibernation is extremely useful but I only use it if I am going to be away
from the PC for an hour or so. (This link shows you how to put the
'hibernate' option on the shutdown menu:
http://www.winuser.co.uk/windows_vista_faq/55_add_hibernation_option_to_shutdown_menu.html )
Anything longer than that and the PC is shutdown completely.

IMHO for 1 hour only hibernation does not make much sense,
unless saving notebook battery.
Neither shut down for just several hours.

For desktop standby for 1 hour is more then enough.

Where you use shut down, I use hibernation.
I usually shut down only, if I do want/need to reboot.
I almost never use shutdown alone, unless leaving PC e.g. on vacation.

 

[+Bob+]

IMHO for 1 hour only hibernation does not make much sense,
unless saving notebook battery.
Neither shut down for just several hours.

For desktop standby for 1 hour is more then enough.

Where you use shut down, I use hibernation.
I usually shut down only, if I do want/need to reboot.
I almost never use shutdown alone, unless leaving PC e.g. on vacation.

I find Hibernate better implemented. Vista is well know for problems
with sleep more - either attaining it, or sustaining it-. For example,
on my system, I've found that even with the cover closed in sleep mode
that moving the USB connected mouse causes the system to resume (yes,
with the cover still closed). Problems with Vista sleep mode are
rampant.

Hibernate, OTOH, seems to work a bit better. It resumes faithfully
about 95% of time. I still save all work ahead of time since you never
know when you will hit the 5% "hibernate broke you have to power on
off" problem. I think most of the hibernate problems result when you
have a forced power off from battery expiration and you then plug in.

Network connections can be troublesome coming out of either mode.
Sometimes I end up rebooting. Other times they work. It remains to be
seen if the alleged "performance improvements returning from sleep
mode" correct these issues.

Personally, I just power off if i will be gone for more than 30
minutes. Frequent reboots seem to make Vista more palatable.

 

[Poutnik]

+Bob+'s previous post was like this :

.......For example,
on my system, I've found that even with the cover closed in sleep mode
that moving the USB connected mouse causes the system to resume (yes,
with the cover still closed). Problems with Vista sleep mode are
rampant.

does help setting not react to mouse, only to kbd ?

Hibernate, OTOH, seems to work a bit better. It resumes faithfully
about 95% of time. I still save all work ahead of time since you never
know when you will hit the 5% "hibernate broke you have to power on
off" problem. I think most of the hibernate problems result when you
have a forced power off from battery expiration and you then plug in.

I use Vista hybrid mode, that is in fact ACPI S3 mode
with powered RAM and created hibernation file..
It never hits "5%".
Exceptions are power failures,
when it has to loads OS from hibernation file.

Network is also troubleless.
I suppose problems are rather machine dependent.

Personally, I just power off if i will be gone for more than 30
minutes. Frequent reboots seem to make Vista more palatable.

Supposing machine dependent.
I often reboot once a week.

 

[BudV]

Well, I asked for a variety of opinions and that's what I got.

Thank you all for your contributions.

Bud Vitoff