PCTechNotes - What is The Diferrence Between Sleep and Hibernate

What is The Diferrence Between Sleep and Hibernate

Posted: 13 Jun 2012 08:58 AM PDT

Did you ever ask yourself what is the difference between Sleep and Hibernate? Both commands appear to have the same function- they allow you to leave your computer, put it at rest, and come back on exactly the same state as you left it without the needs to turn it off or to wait too long for it to self restore. Although it may seem that the inventor of computer keyboard just got confused between the usage of both commands, truth is there are significant differences between them. If you are missing the Hibernate button in Windows 7 shutdown menu , here’s how you easily add hibernate button on your Windows 7 shutdown menu.

The actual difference between Sleep and Hibernate

Sleep mode or basically known as standby mode is a power-saving that is useful for short breaks. It is actually the same as pausing a DVD movie when you have to answer your phone or go to get some snacks. The activities of the computer are stopped, and whatever open documents you have there will be put in memory. When you come back, you can resume your computer’s operation in no time. Computer still uses power during Sleep mode, however minimal.

In case of hibernate, the computer saves whatever open documents and running application and programs into your hard disk then shuts down the computer. When your computer is in hibernate mode, it uses no power at all, its like turning off your computer completely, but when you powered it on it will resume every active documents, programs and application that you left open when you hibernate your computer. Since its using zero power, hibernate is useful if you have to leave your computer for a longer period of time.

For desktops, the additional power-saving mode is the hybrid sleep mode which is mainly for desktops and usually enabled by default. This function is usually disabled for laptops. Hybrid mode saves the open documents and application both in memory and hard disk. This feature allows the user to quickly resume his work because it is stored in the memory, and in case of power interruption and the memory is no longer accessible, you can restore everything from the hard disk.

Now that you know the difference between sleep and hibernate–what’s next?

Now that you know which is which, the next thing that you may ask is how to wake up computers during sleep and hibernate mode. While most computers can be resume by pressing the power button, it may not always be the case. Some computers will need you to press any key on keyboard or click the mouse, it is best that you refer to your computer manufacturer’s instruction. It can be found in the leaflet included in your computer’s packaging when you bought it or visit your manufacturer’s website.

Now that you know the difference between sleep and hibernate, it is clear that the inventor of keyboard didn’t make the two of them by mistake