What happens when you shut down a notebook????

I don't know a whole lot about some of the features found specific to notebooks. Now I'm using one full time and have a few very basic questions.

When I close the lid on my notebook, it goes to "sleep" (I think that's what it's called). When I use it following a "sleep" it shows my name with "locked" under it. What does lock mean? The Vista help files don't explain it very well at all.

When in Sleep Mode, do programs only partially shut down? For example, if I'm connected to the net, can someone access my computer while it's in this mode? When in Sleep mode, can I still get notification of calls from programs such as Skype?

Also, what's the difference between Sleep and Hibernate? They seem to be the same but I don't know for sure.

Thanks.

 

When you close your lid, your notebook goes into sleep. Some fonctions are deactivated (msn will disconnect, music will stop, etc.) but hard drives will remain active for a while (it depends on your settings). The "locked" mention when you reopen it is simply because closing your lid also locks your workstation and you can unlock it with your windows password. This prevents someone from opening up your laptop while you're gone and playing in it. This is mostly used if you leave your computers for a short time and don't want to waste time to shut down and reboot it.

You can also simply lock you workstation by pressing the windoes key + L. In this simple lock version, no programs are deactivated but you'll get no notice from them. (exemple: if someone pokes you from your msn you won't see it until you unlock but they won't know you're not there.) You can unlock by using your windows password.

Hibernation is a deep sleep-like state. Most processes will stop, as well as the hard drive. The laptop will also be longer to wake up, though not as long as a full reboot.

 

I only know one question.when you note book in sleep mode you can not run any program at all.

 

kowell answered the question very well. he's right. lock is just so they dont peek in on your computer. and all programs stop running.

 

Thank you for the excellent and well-articulated information. I am a home user so these functions, as they pertain to workstations, do not apply to me.

btw, is there anything unique about using a notebook that would be helpful for me to know? I've used a computer (primarily PC but also Mac) for more than 20 years.

I'm pretty up on power management, calibrating the battery and the like, but there may be some other goodies it would be good to know.

Again, thank you!

 

yes this is for notebooks only: dont drop it

 

So does that mean if I am downloading something with IDM for example, if I lock it, the download will still continue and not stopped during the lock?

 

LOL! Good one!

 

You could have told me that BEFORE i dropped it...


I joke, I joke, I kidd, I kidd

 

If you lock with "windows + L" then it will keep downloading


as for not dropping your laptop.... It also applies to PC

 

When a laptop goes into sleep mode, everything but the ram is shut down. So whatever you were doing is paused or aborted, but you can pick most of it up again. When it hibernates, it shuts down the computer, but saves the ram to a file on you HDD. When you turn it on, you continue from where you were (like in sleep mode).

 

Thank you.

So judging from what you say, I should use sleep if I'll be away from the computer for a short time, but hybernate for an extended time.

 

Keep in mind, too, that you should periodically shut the notebook down completely (as opposed to using hibernate or sleep). Windows is too inefficient to keep running at 100% if you only ever use hibernate or sleep (for one thing, Windows' memory management does not free up the RAM properly). I would suggest doing a full shutdown on your notebook at least once a week.

 

well first of all, with any proper notebook, when you flap down the screen, it does what you told it to do. surely it will have some default action, but my ibm t43 has a power manager that helps me determine how and what i want to shut down once the lid is closed. I prefer immediate standby mode, so I configured my machine to go to standby.

secondly, difference between standby and hibernation is in the power supply to the hardware: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/mobility/getstarted/hibernate.mspx

As the third thing, if you are away from the machine for just couple of minutes - using "windows + L" locks the machine, therefore it just puts your machine into "away" state. My machine keeps downloading, skype rings if you receive a skype call, etc. It does not (should not) disconnect any IM or interrupt any kind of network connection, unless there is such setup with the connection itself (i.e. to disconnect after idle time).

as the fourth thing, Windows is long past the time when RAM was not freed properly, or whatever. I restart my laptop once in, like, 3 months or something. I guess it is up to the fact how savvy is the user, but an idea to "restart computer once a week is just making me LMAO. Sure thing, if you are noob and are not able of optimizing your machine, you need to shut it down to help it to recover itself :] on the other hand, if you really want to use workstation OS that uses hardware properly, i'd recommend suse or slackware, rather than any version of windows. i have slack with xp on the dual boot and I really restart machine only if i am changing OS in use. I carry my laptop home every day from work but I never shut it down when I am leaving office, I just flip the top down.

and last, but not the least - if you are considering laptop - my warm recommendation goes with rugged notebooks - I've dropped mine like 3 times so far, and it is still in perfect condition. but, that is due to the fact that it has three letters on the top, saying "International Business Machines"...ibm really rules.... or, as they say about it, "once you go black, you never go back". that rule goes for IBM...

 

Thanks for the info. Why would I want to put it in the Lock state? Is that for an office or similar setting? Does it work with a password (I don't use one)?

 

A lock really only works if you use a password. It's meant to simply lock the station down, but leave it running (kind of like a password protected screensaver). It is definitely meant more for an office setting (or any other setting where you might not want someone else wandering over and using your computer, like a dorm room, perhaps).

Without a password, all another person has to do is click on your name to log back into Windows.

 

definitely, lock is used for office environment where you don't want people peeking into your computer once you're gone for your lunch break or just got out for a smoke... i use it all the time, because it is quite fast and easy way to lock your computer temporarily, you don't have to wait for the screensaver to activate or to log off in order to protect your desktop and data...

 

Am I doing any harm to my laptop if I shut it down every night when I go to sleep? Or, is it better for the laptop if I leave the power on for a long period of time?

And also, what is the best way to transport my laptop from 1 place to another without shutting it down if I'm using the AC adepter? When I'm home I mostly have my laptop plugged in, and when I want to bring it to another room, do I have to attatch the battery and unplug from wall, then plug the socket back in in the other room, and remove the battery again?

lol I just feel like I've asked one of the dumbest questions!

 

Does Sleep or Hibernate still use your battery when not plugged in?

 

@letranger:
You are doing no harm whatsoever to your notebook if you shut it down every night. No matter what anyone says about Vista being better to leave running, it is healthy for a computer to be shut down every so often. ESPECIALLY a laptop computer, since even the coolest-running notebook will get dust buildup over time that is very detrimental to its performance. When the notebook has been shut down, the fan is not spinning, so less dust is being drawn into the system.

Regarding moving the laptop...yes, if you want to move it without shutting it down, you need to put the battery in, unplug the AC adapter, plug in the AC adapter, and remove the battery

@cor3y7:
Yes and no. Sleep has suspended your boot to RAM, so it has to keep a power trickle to keep power to the RAM (RAM is cleared when the power goes off).

Hibernate suspends to your hard disk, so it does not need power to remain suspended, but it does take longer to restore than sleep mode, because hard drive seek times are longer than memory seek times.

 

Good answer, thank you.