Hibernation - does it take up HDD space?

Wasn't sure where to put this question...

But I was wondering - does hibernating your laptop affect its hard drive space in any way? Does it take up hard drive space away from other things?

Is it a good idea to hibernate frequently (like each night when you're done using your computer for the day)?

Thanks.

(I have a thinkpad, if that helps in any way)

 

well, hibernation means storing the whole state of your ram onto harddisk => it will use at max the same amount of memory you have in ram (4gb? => 4gb on disk).

the file is on c:\ and is always there, just so that it will always be able to hibernate, and not fail due to low memory.

i use it as my default setting, too, there is no harm in it. as it allows me to never have to "save-close" and later "start-open" my stuff, it's a big gain.

it's a personal choice. if you like it, use it. that's what it's for. no harm or something will happen due to it.

 

As explained before, it does take up hard drive space, in the form of a file called hiberfil.sys.

And personally, I would prefer to Shut Down every night. Hibernate does no damage, but I like to shut down properly anyway.

 

yeah, when you're "done with work", a shutdown is best. hibernation is great for laptops that are mostly used on the go. quickly hibernate to continue work, say, half an hour later, or such...

 

I just use Sleep mode when I'm traveling around school. Although that would probably generate to much heat, being in my case. I've never had a problem though.

 

problem is, my sleep happens to be quite some time over night, or for more than one day.. most likely not for just some minutes or something. so i have no use for it, but hibernate instead. but if i would still be at school, yeah, sleep all the way.

 

I never hibernate due to the wear (whatever slight) on my SSD. I actually went so far to disable hibernation completely and deleted the associated .sys file. I find that sleep is good enough for those short periods that I am not using it and if I am not using the computer for an extended period of time I just turn it off.

 

How much heat do you find that it generates? My computer when recovering from sleep seems to be pretty cool and my RMClock temps appear to confirm this. Sleep mode only supplies enough power to the RAM to maintain it's contents (I have found RAM never gets hot even when the computer is actively being used) and the CPU, GPU, chipset, and HDD (if you have one) are not powered so overheating should not be an issue at all. The only reason that I can think your computer might be hot is if it is being bogged down while going into sleep so it is not completely off when you slip it into your case.

 

that is absolutely useless. if you wanted to kill your ssd with hibernation, and you'd hibernate all day long, you'd need around 213000 hibernations till your ssd is dead...

 

I guess you must have missed that part where I said "whatever slight"... I understand how it could be overlooked, it was right there in the first sentence. Since my recovery from hibernation is pretty darn close to what it takes me to boot why enable it? Additionally, when you consider that it does wear the SSD needlessly and takes up valuable space I just do not see a reason to use it.

 

well, i could say i shouldn't leave home i could get hit by an asteroid doing so.

what ever slight is so so slight that it won't technically be possible to ever matter. so why should you care? there's NOTHING to care about.

and why should you consider using hibernation instead of full boot even if it takes about the same time? once restored from hibernation, all your apps the way you left them are back available. the files are open, ready to use. no need to save-and-close before shutting down. no need to re-start all the apps you want, and re-open the files.

so it's a personal choise if you like that feature, or not. but taking any form of precaution for your ssd is absolute nonsense, as there is nothing to care about. this is just drama-hype from the internet. yes, an ssd can't get written to endlessly. no, it is never a problem in any form of usage.

if you hibernate 10x a day (and you wouldn't, most likely), it would be dead in 60 years.

 

Interesting thread.... I tend to use hibernation when I don't want to close a bunch of open files I'm working on. I do have a couple questions though...

I've noticed in Hibernation the computer is more or less in an "off" state, but when my laptop sleeps, it still appears to be on (fans and lights are still on)? Is this normal? Also, is it safe to carry my laptop in a bag while in Hibernation or Sleep? It would seem with the moving parts and heat being generated in Sleep, that carrying it in a bag could be bad for it's health.

 

hibernation, from a hw standpoint, completely turns your system off. you can plug the cable, take out the battery, take it on a ride for months, plug the stuff in again, and just load it up again.

so it's the same as shutting down for the hw.

sleep, it depends. shouldn't harm, but problem is, if it somehow wakes up on it's own, then it might be no fun..

 

If the fans are still on when a laptop is asleep, something is wrong.

In sleep mode, most laptops have all their components in an off state except for the RAM. If the fan is still on, then there is a problem with the BIOS.

 

Not all computers do a proper sleep. But the ones that do, that is their preferred 'off' mode to me; desktop or notebook.

One that doesn't do a proper sleep is the Dell M6400 Precision workstation and other Dell workstation models.

As for hibernation, yes! When traveling and needing to put the notebook in a sleeve/case/bag, I don't trust sleep enough to use it 'on the move'. In my Win 7 x64, 8GB VAIO system, the hibernate file is 5.97GB - I don't think I've ever seen it higher? On systems with less RAM, it is more closely matched to the RAM installed. For notebook systems, I consider it a 'must-have' as it has saved me many times when on battery power but I needed to use it until it turned off - without losing all my work too.

For an SSD used in a notebook, I think that not only is the use of hibernate probably better than a cold boot (resume generates much less read/write cycles than a cold boot does), but again just the assurance of using the computer until the battery is completely flat without losing work is enough reason for me to have it enabled on any SSD powered systems I'll have.

So, OP, in a nutshell; sleep when you can - hibernate when you must... between Windows Updates and our own new software/driver installs, we will reboot the computer ( properly) anyway, probably more than we want to.

Cheers!

 

I usually hibernate once a week when i'm moving the laptop around the house or when i've got other stuff to do and don't want to loose stuff which i was working on before... i guess that tabbed out is a little paranoid... i doubt anyone would do 10000 hibernates in the laptops life... most probably u'd sell it before that...

 

Thanks for the response. Once I turn my computer back on from hibernation, does the memory that was stored get removed from my hard disk? ie) the memory used doesn't just accumulate every time I hibernate to take up more and more space?

 

No, the hiberfil.sys file gets used over and over - it does not grow infinitely large.

 

That would be an interesting operation if it were true. Like a tape backup where backups can only be appended. Then you would have to erase the whole thing to reuse it.

:laugh:

 

Probably next to nothing, but the cumulative build up is what worries me. There are some days when I leave it in the case for a couple of hours at a time, because sometimes I simply don't need it.

 

Well I'm not entirely sure if it is the fan, but something is on. I have one exhaust port, and I can hear soft whirring which seems to come from the exhaust port, when my computer Sleeps.

 

well, while sleeping, the system can't be completely on. it still powers the ram. and depending on the hw, other stuff.

hibernation turns all off completely.

 

That's not quite right...

The laptop should have absolutely no noise...

The only sound you should be able to hear is the very slight electrical static sound, when it's quiet.

 

davepermen,

you mean it can't be completely 'off', right?

JTF2,

That is why I don't trust a notebook in a case or bag in sleep mode.

Still, just goes to show that 'sleep' is not the same 'sleep' in all computers.

A proper 'sleep' should turn off everything except the RAM as mentioned and also the CPU and USB ports too. Fans, HD's, GPU's, wireless, bluetooth, SD card slots (etc.) and ExpressCard and/or CardBus ports should be also 'off'. Then, it would be safe to use a case or bag.

Unless, the computer 'wakes up' by itself while in the confined space!

Cheers!

 

seen enough systems who have fans still running i can guarantee you, it should not be right, but it happens quite often.

 

yep. sleep uses battery, if only minimal. you couldn't put it to sleep mode and open it up a week/a month/a year later and believe it's still there. depends on the actual sleepmodes of the hw, how long the battery lasts. might be hours, might be weeks.

yep, main reason for me is the "wake up by itself" issue. i've seen at least 3 laptops waking up in a bag when in standby. none of them got issues except fully using the battery, terribly overheating. after cooling down and reloading the battery they where fine again. still, not someting i want. with all the heat, something else in the bag could not like it.. it could even result somehow in some fire or such.. no clue
i like hibernation

 

The heat is insignificant. The amount of electricity used by sleep mode is less than a night light. It technically is used to keep the RAM active enough to store the state of your computer.

 

Looks like I'm fine with mine then.

 

I used to ONLY sleep my old Powerbook G4. That thing never got shut off except when updating the OS. I put an uptime meter on that thing once just for giggles, and stopped paying attention once it got past 45 days.

Sleep overnight, sleep in my laptop bag, through airport security, for days or up to a week at a time. Often drained a bit of battery if it slept unplugged for a week, but it worked. I just had to find an outlet right away. Man I loved that machine. I just wish I hadn't stepped on it

Never overheated, and I never thought about it really. It went to sleep when I closed the lid, and woke up when I opened it.

Long story short, if your computer and it's components are properly designed, you should never have a problem with sleeping or hibernating. Then again, if computers were all properly designed, we wouldn't be here would we?

 

I am hibernator that never sleeps