To Hybernate or to Sleep, this is the Question

[win7jak]

Power Options/ Advanced settings query if you please.

Ideally I want the computer monitors to turn off after 10 minutes of inactivity to reduce power consumption and heat - got that sorted.

So if I get called away or do something else, I want the entrie system to reduce power consumtion by going to sleep after, say, 20 minutes then hybernating at about 30 minutes, enabling me to jump straight back in from where I left it at the click of a mouse. Is this a good practice to work by or should I be closing down in the normal procedure.

Which leades to -
What is the difference between Sleep after xxx minutes, Allow Hybrid Sleep On/Off and Hybernate after xxx minutes.

How do all these three relate and or integrate

Thx

 

[AddRAM]

You could set sleep to 30 to 40 minutes and hybernate to 45 to 60 minutes. If you plan on not using it for awhile then you should shut it down properly. But if you use it all through the day, there`s nothing wrong with letting it hybernate.

 

[gregrocker]

I find that Shutting Down whenever Updates are cued on the Shutdown button is sufficient. The convenience of being able to leave work on the desktop and come back whenever I want to either wake from sleep or Resume from Hibernate with everything in place is too great to Shut Down more than that. Plus it starts twice as fast with Resume, and even faster from Sleep.

 

[DavidE]

What you are doing is fine.

For a Laptop I suggest using hibernate after X amount of time to extend battery life.

For a Desktop I prefer and use Hybrid sleep.
Hybrid Sleep is a combination of Sleep and Hibernate.

Hybrid saves the Windows session to RAM for sleep, and to HD for Hibernate when the PC sleeps.
If power goes out while the PC is Sleeping it will Resume from Hibernate.
If the power does not go out while Sleeping it will Wake from Sleep noticably faster.

I set my Monitor shutoff after 15 minutes, Sleep timer to 20 minutes, and Hibernate timer to never.
If I have a Sleep timer of 20 minutes and a Hibernate timer of 40 minutes, the PC will wake up from sleep to Hibernate.
That's what I've seen, but it's been a while since I tested a Hibernate timer.
I like having the monitor turn off 5 minutes before sleeping as a "warning" the PC is getting ready to sleep.

You could save a few watts of power with Hibernate if that is a concern.
About as much as a nite-lite as far as I know.

To me the most important thing is to make sure the Windows session is "restored" correctly when restoring from Sleep OR Hibernate.

I leave some systems Sleeping for days before I get back to them...

 

[Layback Bear]

Their is no best way. It really is up to the user. Something to think on.
Because of the short time it takes to cold boot a computer and the good things a fresh boot does and the problems many people have with sleep and hibernate just shutting down the computer is my choice. A SSD would also be very nice to speed up a boot. With a SSD it only takes a few seconds. For me a cold boot and the few seconds it takes does not hurt my system or change my life style.

 

[win7jak]

Well that all great info folks. I'll mull it over. I have learned something today thanks to you all.

 

[win7jak]

One more thing....it's a bit concerning to hear "the problems many people have with sleep and hibernate"...how many of you have noticed this problem?

 

[DavidE]

In my experience, Sleep and/or Hibernate can be problematic and very difficult to troubleshoot to find the cause of the problem.

When it's working, it's great...
I have mine working the way I want it to, reliably on several systems.

My Primary (media) PC sleeps and wakes via a Universal Remote...No "Auto sleep/wake"...I love it
My Test box sleeps via a timer or manual...again, that's what I want.

My systems are very "Vanilla" (Boring) compared to what I see on other systems I work on.

 

[win7jak]

Thx for that
So if they are problematic, does that say I could have BIG problems if it doesn't come out of Sleep/Hybernation properly.
I would sleeping/hybernating the system during editing video productions and with word docs that may be open etc.

So could I have major difficulties re-establishing a video timeline perhaps? That would be major scary.

 

[Layback Bear]

I got my opinion on problems with sleep/hibernation from reading many post on this site of people having problems. I have never used either because I see no use for it. A 40 to 60 sec. cold boot with no problems instead of 20 sec. coming out of sleep just doesn't make sense to me. Other than dodging fast moving cars and ducking bullets a few seconds really doesn't mean anything to me. It does give me a little time to take a sip of coffee and light a Pall Mall.

 

[DavidE]

I can't disagree with what you say, and each person should choose what is best for them.
I like being able to have a PC sleep, and then pick up where I left off on that system.

It's not only the Startup time, but trying to remember and re-open all the things I was working on.
I have an SSD, but that does not help me remember what I was doing the last time I was on that "machine".
Even if I had a single system, I prefer to start off today where I ended yesterday.

I do agree with re-booting to clear things up if there are any issues...
I don't think Windows 7 needs to be re-booted as often as prior Windows versions.

Personally, I have a Windows session and all Programs open for days or weeks without a logoff or re-boot.
It does go to sleep many times...

I do try and remember to save data changes, but even that seems forgiving with newer/updated programs if I don't do it ...

 

[gregrocker]

I dont see many problems with sleep any longer in my installs. It seems these were smoothed out with performance updates. I do see them sometimes here in the Forums but we see one-in-a-million problems like with Updates regularly here.

I would have to call the Sleep and Hibernate functions perfected in Win7 compared to XP. They work consistently well on all of my installs with never any reports of failures or major glitches. I maintain Win7 installs all over the world and check in on them regularly via TeamViewer and travels.

 

[Layback Bear]

Like I posted before, it's up to the owner operator of the computer. If you like sleep/hibernate then use it. When one can't remember what they are doing from day to day I have no suggestions.
I really don't care one way or the other what one decides to do. I just gave my opinion and my reasoning for them as the thread requested. Everybody has different needs and desires.
Gregs and my needs are very different. He travels the world and does many things. I travel from my computer room to the kitchen for coffee. Therefore are needs are different. Give sleep/hibernation at try and let us know how things work out for you.