What is the Differences Between Sleep (Standby) and Hibernate in Vista
Have you ever thought of what is the differences between Sleep and Hibernate options provided by Windows Vista shutdown function? Both commands provide a easy and quick way to leave your computer in existing last state and come back to work on it at exactly the same state later without waiting too long to system to restore itself. However, fundamentally there are significant different between them that allows users to easily choose whether they should use Sleep or Hibernate.
Sleep is commonly known as Standby in Windows system or S3 in ACPI. In Sleep mode, the power supply to non-essential and non-critical component is withheld, and most system operation is shutdown and stopped. All data in physical memory (RAM module) is still kept in internal memory, and whole system is place in stand-by mode, which can be woke up and used almost immediately. In Sleep mode, the power load reduce considerably, saving a lot of energy. However, the power must not be cut off, and must be continue to supply to the computer. Once out of power, the system will have to start again just like a newly boot computer just started from power off state.
Windows Vista has enhanced sleep mode so that on notebook computer, sleeping computer will automatically hibernate when battery power level is low. It also has built-in Hybrid Sleep mode which ensure that system state is preserved when there is power lost.
Hibernate, or S4 in ACPI, meanwhile will save the data in physical memory to hard disk drive (HDD), and then power off the computer. In Hibernate mode, a file named hiberfil.sys which has the same file size as the amount of system memory will be created on the local disk. When user wants to use the computer again, the computer will boot up and load back the state at the last hibernation. The advantage of Hibernation mode is that no power is wasted for maximum saving of power. In Hibernation dormancy, no electricity is consumed by system. Beside, restore from Hibernate is generally faster than computer reboot, and is totally different from fresh start, as users can return to the exact state of last hibernation with all programs running and documents opened intact, instead of empty desktop. The disadvantage of Hibernate is that after a period of time, there may have fragmentation of file. Users will need to defragment the volume that stores the hibernation file frequently.
Related Articles
- What is Hybrid Sleep and Differences with Basic Sleep Mode in Vista
- Disable and Prevent Laptop or Notebook from Sleep (Standby) or Hibernate When Closing the Lid
- Disable Windows XP and Vista from Asking for Password to Unlock on Wake Up Resume from Sleep/Standby
- How to Enable or Disable Hibernate in Windows 7
- Turn Off and Disable Hybrid Sleep in Windows Vista
- How to Enable and Turn On Hybrid Sleep in Vista
- Missing or Not Found Allow Hybrid Sleep in Vista Power Options Advanced Settings
- How to Delete and Remove hiberfil.sys Hibernation File in Windows XP and Vista
- Differences and Advantages Between 32-bit (x86) VS 64-bit (x64) Windows Vista
- Schedule Windows Shutdown with Vista Shutdown Sleep Timer
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November 19th, 2009 09:42
Unlike Vamshi, I would like to see authors work on spelling and more importantly, grammar. respnses that r riten like this r harder 2 read n slow you down m make u like u dont no what your doing so please rite better cuz it would really help thank you and keep worokiing on ur skills i’ll still read ur web site…
Are you getting the point yet, Vemshi, et. al.?
November 18th, 2009 16:46
Thanks for the very detailed article. I really appreciate your patience. I feel ppl should stop commenting on grammar and read the article for what it is meant coz authors will hesitate on writing articles after reading the comments.
October 15th, 2009 11:38
[...] who do not use hibernation feature, or just want to use Sleep mode (differences between sleep and hibernate mode) can easily disable and turn off hibernate feature, which also has the advantage removing [...]
October 12th, 2009 23:50
Rather than being upset that the English isn’t absolutely perfect, I am very grateful that the author chose to publish this in English so I could get the benefit. Thank you so much, please accept my appreciation.
August 11th, 2009 10:13
I would hibernate this desktop a lot less often if Vista only allowed you to resume a previous session just like most modern Linux distros do… It’s so annoying not having that feature, and having to either use hibernation to preserve the open applications, or give in and do a full shutdown. I bet this isn’t even in Win7 either… It ought to be though!
July 22nd, 2009 06:42
$2.98 – the savings that can be made by putting your laptop to sleep each time you take a break, rather than allowing its power manager to do the job.
It takes a little attention, but so does remembering to turn off a light, in fact just about everything that we need to do to save energy at home.
June 25th, 2009 07:15
Who cares with poor grammar, this is supposed to be a helpful topic, not a damn grammar test.
Get your damn english and stick it on your asses.
June 16th, 2009 05:11
What’s worse than poor grammar? Poor manners, as QBert and Bob have amply shown.
May 15th, 2009 04:25
Screw hibernation vs. sleep mode, the author of this article needs to learn English! Whoever wrote it sounds like a moron.
March 23rd, 2009 06:44
While the information was very useful and accurate, I must confess that I am disgusted by the author’s abhorrent lack of skills of the proper usage of the English language. There are more than 20 errors in a quarter as many paragraphs. Please consider having someone proof your articles before posting them.
September 2nd, 2008 08:21
thankyou, i just bought a laptop and i was very confused about the difference between sleep and hibernation,your article cleared everything up for me, i think i,ll stick with sleep mode.
October 29th, 2007 23:40
[...] known as Standby. Standby or Sleep is actually Windows implementation name of ACPI mode S3, while hibernate implements ACPI mode S4. Unknowing to many, Windows Vista also has a new feature named Hybrid [...]
October 19th, 2007 21:35
As an elderly person coming late to computing I am still puzzled as to the best way to leave the computer i.e. Standby or Hibernate. I had the advantage of messing around with an old
-albeit Windows XP- computer before buying the present one, again a Windows XP. I’ve found there is no Hibernate (`Turn-off’ plus `shift’) access on this computer -I try to install it- previously I both Hibernated and cut the power off: was that right or wrong?
October 12th, 2007 05:15
Worth mentioning when in S3 Sleep mode, the power consumption is only roughly 2 Watt more than totally powered down.
And even when a PC is powered down or in hibernation, it will still consume some electricity (for power button standby, USB ports, AC>DC inefficiency, etc), probably 5 Watt or so at a guess.