You’ve probably seen a list of several options when you go to shut down your computer, and while most people usually just hit the shutdown button and turn their computer all the way off, the other options have some major benefits and using them can help you be more productive on your computer by avoiding long start-up times. The options can be confusing because they are occasionally referred to by different names, but once you understand the concepts of each, its pretty simple to use them effectively. To understand how to use these options, we need to know exactly what they do first. Let’s break it down:
The Difference
Shutdown: Chances are, you are very familiar with this option. Clicking shutdown will shutd own the operating system and power down the computer completely. Simple right? That’s why most people use this option without considering the others, but there are major advantages to using one of the other options rather than a full shutdown.
Standby (sometimes called suspend or sleep): When you press standby, the computer backs up the current state of your computer (ie: open windows/programs etc.) to the RAM. RAM is a small amount of very fast storage in your computer, but it is volatile (meaning that it needs power to store data). When a computer goes into standby, it is still consuming a small amount of electricity; just enough to keep data “alive” in the RAM. All other parts of your computer are turned off. When you turn your computer back on, the data from the RAM is put back where it needs to go. Because RAM is fast memory, your computer will boot back up right where you left it very quickly and it skips the often slow boot up process because it never shut all the way down.
Hibernate: When you tell your computer to hibernate, it stores the current state of the computer in the hard drive disk (HDD). HDDs are much slower than RAM, but are non-volatile (meaning they can store data without any power). Putting your computer into hibernate allows you to store the current state (ie: any programs/windows you have open) but still shut the computer down to a point where it is not using any power at all. Resuming from hibernate will bring you right back to where you left off working, and skip the boot process just like standby. Again hibernate is slower than standby but doesn’t use any power while in this state.
Great, now we know the difference between the three options, but how does one go about using them most effectively? There are several scenarios which might prompt a different use of these options. In general, I almost never use the shut down option unless the computer needs to be rebooted (which it sometimes does if it is acting up, or you have installed a new program). In my mind there isn’t any reason to use shut down if standby and hibernate are available.
How To Use Effectively
When to use standby: Standby is great because it allows you to power down your computer very quickly and also resume your work in just a few seconds. The only downside is that it draws a small amount of power while in standby. If you are using a mobile computer, this is critical. Standby works great if you are going to be away from your computer for 15 minutes or so. Just hit the standby button and when you get back, you’ll have all of your work up on the screen in a few seconds, you’ll save power in the mean time.
When to use hibernate: You don’t want to put your computer into standby if your computer isn’t plugged in and you’ll be away from it for several hours. You’ll come back to a computer that has lost some battery charge and that is never fun when most laptops can only last 4 or so hours on a single charge. The power lost is certainly much less than if the computer were fully running, but it is still significant if you want to get the most run-time out of your computer. This is when hibernate should be used. It might take 30 seconds for your computer to go into hibernation, but it won’t be using any power at all while you are away, and it will resume back to your work faster than doing a full shutdown.
But what happens when you put your computer into standby because you think you’ll be gone for just 15 minutes, but you end up being gone for much longer than you anticipated? Luckily there is a simple solution for this. Windows offers flexible power management options. For example, you can set your computer to automatically enter standby after 15 minutes of inactivity, then automatically enter hibernate if it doesn’t get woken up in another 15 minutes. You might be asking: “How can I make my computer do that?” Well, that’s what we’re here for!
Setting Up Windows Power Management
It is slightly different for different operating systems, so we’ll run you through Windows XP and Windows Vista.
Windows XP:
Start by pressing…the Start button (easy enough, right?) and going to Control Panel on the right side of the Start menu.
In the Control Panel make sure you are in ‘Classic View’ on the left of the Window, then find Power Options.
You should see “System Standby:” and “System Hibernates:”. Across the way you’ll see that there is a setting for when your computer is plugged in, and when it is on battery power.
Use the drop down boxes to configure how long your computer must be left idle before it will enter standby or hibernate. You can also set your screen to shut off after so much time which will save power while you aren’t using it. One of my mobile computers is set to Standby after 15 minutes, and Hibernate after 25 (on battery power). This means that if I get up for 15 minutes and come back, my computer will resume quickly as it is in Standby. If I’m away for more than 25 minutes, it will enter hibernation and save precious battery life. Play with these settings and find out what works best for you.
Windows Vista:
Start by pressing the Windows button at the bottom right of the screen, go to Control Panel on the right side of the Windows button menu.
In the search box at the top right of the window, type “power” which will find Power Options.
On the left side of the window find and click Change when the computer sleeps.
Toward the bottom of the window find and click Change advanced power settings.
Find the Sleep parent menu and click the + to the left of it to drop down more options. Press the + next to Sleep after and Hibernate after, then use the drop down menus to modify the time to your desired amount
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