# Hibernating or shutting down?



## Chukkz (Nov 14, 2009)

My home PC is being turned on and off several times a day (I go somewhere, then someone else comes and wants to kill a bit of time by playing solitaire or whatever, then that person goes and I might come back within an hour and have to turn it on AGAIN...). Now I was thinking what might be more friendly to the hardware and power consumption: Shutting it off and switch back on a few times per day or letting it hibernate and wake it up with a keystroke?


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## xcliber (Nov 14, 2009)

Hibernate would be faster, but basically would be the same as shutting it down as far as power consumption goes.

I believe shutting it down would save a minimal amount more energy than hibernation.


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## ToeClaws (Nov 14, 2009)

xcliber said:


> Hibernate would be faster, but basically would be the same as shutting it down as far as power consumption goes.
> 
> I believe shutting it down would save a minimal amount more energy than hibernation.



Hibernating IS shutting down.  You can completely unplug the PC when it has been hibernated.  What hibernation does is preload the previous memory contents into a hibernation file, so that when you turn on your PC again, it loads that data back into the RAM, leaving you exactly where you were.

Hibernating saves the most power.  I would suggest, however, that occasionally you still shut down the PC and restart it normally, just to clear any issues associated with running the OS a long time.


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## Runefox (Nov 14, 2009)

Yeah, hibernating actually does shut the computer off - From a hardware wear-and-tear standpoint, it's the same as shutting off the PC. Sleep mode (at least, S3) shuts virtually everything down but the RAM. As long as the computer continues to get a trickle of power, it'll remain in sleep mode until the power button (or in some cases, a keyboard button) is pressed.

As far as convenience is concerned, it might be a lot more convenient for you to hibernate than shut down if you do it multiple times per day - it usually is faster than booting the OS from scratch, and you keep any windows and programs that you had open. If you do it especially often, you could simply put it into sleep mode, which consumes very little power yet will return the PC to a working state just like hibernation does within a second or two.

Personally, I never shut my PC off unless it's to open it up or resolve a problem with the OS.


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## Irreverent (Nov 14, 2009)

Chukkz said:


> Shutting it off and switch back on a few times per day or letting it hibernate and wake it up with a keystroke?



"Suspend" is an option too.  Depending on how your OS implements it, there can be substantial power savings over "screen saver" but not usually as much as hibernate or shutting down.

Suspend is usually the quickest back on line after a key press.


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## Chukkz (Nov 14, 2009)

Irreverent said:


> "Suspend" is an option too.  Depending on how your OS implements it, there can be substantial power savings over "screen saver" but not usually as much as hibernate or shutting down.
> 
> Suspend is usually the quickest back on line after a key press.



OS = in my case, XP home.


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## SnowFox (Nov 14, 2009)

I normally hibernate my laptop, I haven't rebooted it in nearly 2 months now and surprisingly it hasn't slowed down and is only using 365MB of memory with firefox and a few other things open.

Is hibernating less stressful for the hard disk than shutting down and rebooting?


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## Aurali (Nov 14, 2009)

hibernating would be the quickest way to save power, though personally I just put my computer to sleep. It has enough battery life to stand 40+ hours in sleep mode and I use it enough that it doesn't make a difference anyway.

Though shutting it down every once in a while is still good. Nothing can run forever.


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## Captain Spyro (Nov 14, 2009)

I normally shut mine down every night, but once I switch to Mac, I may rework my habits.


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## Aurali (Nov 14, 2009)

Captain Spyro said:


> I normally shut mine down every night, but once I switch to Mac, I may rework my habits.



Hope that works out for you.


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## Captain Spyro (Nov 14, 2009)

Aurali said:


> Hope that works out for you.



I presume you run a mac? My former girlfriend has one, loves it, and basically influenced me to switch to one, considering my computer is around 6 years in age and the performance is slipping.

She leaves hers in sleep mode, which apparently allows it to run maintenance. I fail at maintenance on Windows PCs, so I hoping a switch will get me on the right track.


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## ArielMT (Nov 14, 2009)

SnowFox said:


> Is hibernating less stressful for the hard disk than shutting down and rebooting?



The only stress saved over cold booting is the time difference between hibernating/resuming and clean shutdown/start-up.


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## Aurali (Nov 14, 2009)

ArielMT said:


> The only stress saved over cold booting is the time difference between hibernating/resuming and clean shutdown/start-up.



Unless you were running something very system intensive on hibernate... that could cause you to force a reboot...



Captain Spyro said:


> I presume you run a mac? My former girlfriend has one, loves it, and basically influenced me to switch to one, considering my computer is around 6 years in age and the performance is slipping.
> 
> She leaves hers in sleep mode, which apparently allows it to run maintenance. I fail at maintenance on Windows PCs, so I hoping a switch will get me on the right track.



No, I'm happily running windows 7. 
I seriously hope it does work out, everyone has different tastes, and computers cost a lot of money. Good luck Also, you have no idea how a simple good gesture keeps things on track.


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## Captain Spyro (Nov 14, 2009)

Aurali said:


> Unless you were running something very system intensive on hibernate... that could cause you to force a reboot...
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thank you for that. 

Macs are especially expensive, but there's a reason to the madness. It'll take some adapting, but given time, I should adjust. I was mostly happy with XP, but some things could be better.

Thanks for the gesture. I'm sure I'll need the luck.


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## ArielMT (Nov 14, 2009)

Aurali said:


> Unless you were running something very system intensive on hibernate... that could cause you to force a reboot...



I've never had that happen on either Linux or Windows.  In both cases, the only event that forces a reboot to follow a resume from hibernation is a driver that wasn't properly awakened or wasn't written to work right after being hibernated.


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## Liwyatan (Nov 14, 2009)

Captain Spyro said:


> Thank you for that.
> 
> Macs are especially expensive, but there's a reason to the madness. It'll take some adapting, but given time, I should adjust. I was mostly happy with XP, but some things could be better.
> 
> Thanks for the gesture. I'm sure I'll need the luck.



I went from Windows XP primary to Mac OS X Leopard primary a year ago, when I bought a PowerBook G4 from 2002 from a local Mac fur. I've enjoyed that quite a lot, however, now I'm running a total of 5 different OS's on 3 computers, the notebook I'm currently on is a 2009 Acer Aspire 8930 and it runs the following: Windows Vista (Windows 7 upgrade shipped), Linux Mint 7 and OpenSUSE. I still have my PowerBook G4 and it still runs OS X Leopard (10.5). I also have my semi old desktop standing about, it runs Windows XP Pro SP3 fairly well.

The one of the OS's I'm least satisfied with would be Vista. But I'm looking forward to Windows 7 as I've been working on it before and I'm quite positive about it. 
The Linux distros I'm using currently are only installed to try them out, as I've yet to settle for one that I will be utilizing for everyday use. 

As for getting used to new OS's, it takes time, depending on how many features you're used to using, but as long as you're open minded to it, then it will be easy enough to get used to.

End of off topic blabber for now.
________________________________________________________________

Hibernation and shutting down are the same as multiple have stated, with one difference, your RAM are loaded in the state they were before you hibernated, which means that all your activity from before hibernation will remain. Difference by the means of power usage only occurs when comparing hibernation/shutdown with suspension/standby.


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## Aurali (Nov 14, 2009)

ArielMT said:


> I've never had that happen on either Linux or Windows.  In both cases, the only event that forces a reboot to follow a resume from hibernation is a driver that wasn't properly awakened or wasn't written to work right after being hibernated.



Actually it was because my old laptop would decide to hibernate in the middle of crysis XD. by the time it came out it, the system was too unstable to just run normally. I rebooted myself. Sorry if I confused you.


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## XERO (Nov 14, 2009)

Shut it down. There are many, many, lazy programmers out there, and many more lazy
companies who care about checking their software, who write software that do not clean
up after themselves properly. This leads to memory leaks, which means less memory for the
next program, this slowly adds up to the point where you haven't got enough memory to run
whatever you are trying to run. When you reboot or shutdown, the memory is cleared
completely.
When you hibernate, memory contents are stored to disk, and then reloaded back into
memory. This means any consumed memory before, is consumed after as well. So unless
you're using nothing but small programs, it would be best to shutdown to clear the memory
for the next person.


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## AshleyAshes (Nov 15, 2009)

Computers can turn off? D:


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## Captain Spyro (Nov 15, 2009)

AshleyAshes said:


> Computers can turn off? D:



Never! They're always awake...working...planning...scheming...


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## ArielMT (Nov 15, 2009)

AshleyAshes said:


> Computers can turn off? D:



Not in Windows Vista, not without the super-secret magical triangle of power.


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## Chukkz (Nov 15, 2009)

XERO said:


> Shut it down. There are many, many, lazy programmers out there, and many more lazy
> companies who care about checking their software, who write software that do not clean
> up after themselves properly. This leads to memory leaks, which means less memory for the
> next program, this slowly adds up to the point where you haven't got enough memory to run
> ...



Hmm interesting. So I suppose hibernation is only useful if I A) have an enormous ammount of RAM and/or B) I leave it for a short period (and would leave it running rather then shutting off anyway).



AshleyAshes said:


> Computers can turn off? D:



And, yes computers can turn off... Ever tried to install a piece of hardware that wouldn't install correctly? Now _thats_ what I call a turn-off...


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## Carenath (Nov 15, 2009)

Aurali said:


> Though shutting it down every once in a while is still good. Nothing can run forever.


You know.. there are Unix servers out there with an uptime measured in years. That's years between reboots, let alone shut-downs.


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## Duality Jack (Nov 15, 2009)

I leave mine on (all 3 of them)


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## CaptainCool (Nov 15, 2009)

i used to hibernate my PC. imo thats a very useful feature! just make sure to reboot it once every few days because otherwise it will get pretty slow...
but ever since i got my current graphics card the hibernation mode didnt work anymore... the PC hibernates and then i get a bluescreen when i switch it back on =/ the same happens with windows 7 now.
but now i dont need to do that anymore because booting with my SSD is just as fast as switching it back on from hibernation X3


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## webkilla (Nov 15, 2009)

i shut down my PC

i hibernate my laptop


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## tikian12 (Nov 15, 2009)

I hibernate mine cause it boots faster and you can leave windows open. I hardly ever let it sleep considering it's a laptop and the battery would die pretty quick. Shut downs are only for when I know it's gonna be off for ten hours or more, and of course reset for updates and issues.


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## Irreverent (Nov 16, 2009)

Chukkz said:


> OS = in my case, XP home.



Which supports both suspend and hibernate.  So pick one at a time and see what works better for you.  Its in Start, Settings, Control panel,  Power Options, Advanced, Power Buttons and pick "Standby"  or next tab over and enable hibernation.


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## TDK (Nov 16, 2009)

I shut down my laptop.
I unplug my desktop and never acknowledge it.


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## Chukkz (Nov 16, 2009)

Okay, having actually _tried_ it (lol, could have first place as I now think about it) I noticed that apparently my videocard dislikes hibernating/suspend. I get a striped screen (with the mousepointer, but I can not move it around) and soon the screen loses sync and turns off. So, I have to shut it down. :| Oh well... but interesting stuff to read about the subject so I guess it was a good thing to ask.  Thanks all.


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## Irreverent (Nov 16, 2009)

Update your video drivers...the may fix the issue.


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