"Special" standby mode?

Hello.


I like to send my HTPC (home theatre PC) into standby if it's been idle for more than 15 minutes (actually MediaPortal does that for me) or manually if I don't need it at the moment but intend to use it later.

Over night I like to completely turn the HTPC and all the other home theatre components off, by cutting off the power (with a nice switch, don't worry), so everything's really off.
If the HTPC was shut down normally I don't have any problems cutting off the power and turning the HTPC back on when I switch the power on again - it boots up just fine.

But when I send the HTPC into standby mode AND THEN switch off the power supply, the HTPC will boot up with an error, that it wasn't shut down properly, prompting me to continue (as some components were still running when I cut off the power, right?).

Now my question - is it possible to go into some special kind of standby mode that is "safe" for a power loss? I know it wouldn't boot up any faster after the power loss, since it's a normal boot after the power was cut off, that's no problem. Also, hibernation is not an option.


Thanks!

Hibernation is not an option?

This is the only way I can think of giving you your control without the start-up error.

win7 does also have the hybrid mode where it enters standby and then hibernates after a further time lapse.

There is "Away Mode" available in some systems that is designed for HTPCs but not all systems support it and it also has the same issue as standby

There is also the Shutdown command line command that could be used to fully shut-down the system on a schedule

type shutdown /? in a command prompt for options

If you use the hybrid sleep mode, it will shutdown with both hibernate and sleep at the same time (data stored in both RAM and on the hard drive) but will wake imediately as it does just from sleep as long as the computer remains plugged in. If the power is switched off at the plug or unplugged, it will wake as it would if just hibernate were used.

The short answer is that you need to be hibernating rather than sleeping. BUT you should NOT be cutting power to your PC without a proper shutdown under ANY circumstance. It's not a matter of whether it will damage files, but when. A "nice switch" doesn't make it any better. You are still cutting the power with the PC running.