AboutSaleem Expertise Computer Hardware Engineer with 5+ years of on-site and on-call experience in computers mostly with Hardware and OS related issues.
Experience Familiar with Windows 9x, NT4, 2K & XP and good experience in troubleshooting hardware and OS issues.
Education/Credentials Diploma in Computer Hardware and Networking.
A+ Online Certification from Comptia, USA.
Question What's the difference? When I go to turn my computer off, I am offered these selections in addition to "turn off".
Answer Dear Chas,
That's easy...
Hibernate takes a snapshot of everything you got on RAM (including any windows and apps running) and saves it to a special hard disk file and then shuts the computer down, when you resume from hibernation the computer boots a bit faster than a normal power up bootup. This method does not consume any power while the computer is off.
Uses: When you are not going to use the computer for a few hours or more.
Sleep, basically shuts your computer down except some components like RAM, so the next time you resume, it will boot almost in an instant. However, this method consumes battery power.
Uses: When you are just leaving the computer for a few minutes or hours, like at lunchtime or something like that.
